More Than Just Acting
by BananaMilkshake7
Summary: Eli, Clare, and a work of art. What could happen?...Love.
1. I never saw true beauty till this night

**Hey, it's Elipassedhisfrenchexam. This is my new story. It's about how Eli and Clare fall in love while working on the school play, Romeo and Juliet. I hope you guys will love it! It's in third person, and my last story wasn't, so you guys are getting a treat. Check out another story I'm currently working on called, "Tying Music into Love."**

**P.S. I hate when authors write that Eli is tall. He's not and I don't know why they're fantasizing about that.**

**P.P.S. I guess, because it's fanfiction, it's okay, but if anybody thinks that Eli's tall in real life, he's not. He's 5' 6".**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, or Shakespeare. **

* * *

"Who knew that the morbid, death obsessed, guyliner wearing, Eli Goldsworthy would be into theater?"

"I thought there was a stereotype that emo guys like poetry and writing and stuff."

"I thought you said you weren't emo."

"I also said I wasn't obsessed with death, so stop saying that I am."

Eli Goldsworthy and Adam Torres were sitting at The Dot, eating burgers and fries. For both of them, it was their first year at Degrassi. It was the second week of school and there were already auditions for this year's play.

"Are you sure you want to be in _Romeo and Juliet?_" asked Adam. Adam was not interested in the literary arts at all, so sometimes it would be hard for Eli to talk to him.

"Yes! It's one of the greatest plays of all time! Ask a two year old, and he'll know what it is."

"I doubt that, Eli. I never heard of Shakespeare until I was in the fifth grade."

Eli laughed. Adam was fun to be around. Eli and Adam had no friends at Degrassi yet, both of them being outsiders.

By looking at Eli, you would immediately see how he was an outsider. He always wore all black, except for the occasional gray or white. You would never see him without his noise cancellation headphones, always around his neck. He also never took off his chain necklace. Some say it's a guitar pick, others say it's a faux metal shark tooth. Eli is also seen with his signature smirk, the kind that only certain people can bring out, and he wears eyeliner.

Adam, on the other hand, wouldn't be seen as an outsider at first. But when you look closely, you see an awkward looking boy, maybe a tomboy?

It had already gotten out at school that Adam was FTM. A female to male transgender. He got made fun of, but Eli, who couldn't care less about Adam biologically being a girl, always stuck up for him.

So, these two stuck together. Through thick and thin, for better or worse, these two might as well be married.

"Dude, I think the only reason you like this play is because both of the main characters die at the end," Adam said, looking through the script.

"No, Adam, I just like the play, okay?"

Adam furrowed his brow while looking at the screenplay. "Eli, you know you're going to have to kiss a girl for this."

"I know."

"Well, aren't you kind of allergic to girls?"

Eli rolled his eyes. Adam only said this because Eli never talked about girls.

"If you want to put it that way, you can. It's not like the kiss will mean anything."

"But dude, can I know why you always avoid the subject when I say something like, 'that girl is hot.'"

"I guess I'm not that attracted to girls."

Obviously, Adam was taking a big gulp of his iced tea at the time, so he spit it all over Eli.

"You're ga-"

"Dude, I'm not gay. I just...I don't know. The last time I had a crush on a girl was in the third grade. And when she found out she told everybody, and I became a complete and total loser. I guess I realized that all girls are stupid and popular and only like jocks or, "really hot guys." I've had tons of girls flirt with me before, and they all seem like desperate trashy...you know what I mean."

"Not all girls are like that, you know."

"I know, I just haven't found one yet."

***The next day, at the auditions***

"Alli, I'm so nervous!"

"Don't worry, Clare, you are totally going to get this part."

Clare Edwards smoothed out her button down dress. She didn't think it was enough to win over the director, but Alli said that, "any weirdo that dresses up for the part during the auditions is not going to get it!"

"I hope your right," Clare mumbled.

"Clare Edwards?" The director called her name from the auditorium.

"Break a leg," Alli whispered before giving Clare an encouraging smile. She really was a great friend to Clare, and she was grateful for that. Clare just thought Alli needed to wear a little less eye makeup.

Clare carefully walked to the middle of the stage. Declan was sitting on the bench with a few other people.

"I didn't know you wanted to act, little Edwards."

Clare could feel the hot lights burn down on her face. Or maybe she was just blushing...?

She laughed nervously. "Well, it's always been a dream of mine. Especially for this play. It's one of my favorites."

"Let's see what you have. Act 2, scene 2. I'll read Romeo's part."

Declan went to the page and started reading. He wasn't the best actor, but the Clare he was an amazing director.

" 'She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel!' Yada yada yada, 'And sail upon the bosom of the air.' Your turn."

Clare suddenly wasn't nervous anymore. She knew this was her calling when she started acting on a stage. All her fears slowly faded away with the bright lights shining on her face, the soft noise of her flats on the stage. This was an incredible feeling.

" 'O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."

After a few sentences, Declan and his crew knew they had their Juliet. She must have been a prodigy sent from heaven above, because if she could do that, she could bring out tears in the toughest bully's eyes. Most kids would think that this play was going to be boring. Now that they had Clare, it wasn't going to be.

"Okay!" Declan broke the silence. They had all been in shock and he thought that Clare might have gotten the wrong idea about their quietness.

"Clare, you definitely have a very huge chance of being our Juliet. Great job. Next is...Eli Goldsworthy."

Clare was the last one audition for Juliet. Next were the auditions for Romeo.

As Clare was walking to the backstage, she bumped into somebody.

"Oops! Sorry, my-"

She looked at the face of the person who bumped her. It was a smirking, jade-eyed smug looking kid.

But the only thing she was thinking of was, "Wow, he's good looking."

"Um, s-sorry, m-my bad."

"It's fine."

Clare smiled.

"You have pretty eyes."

This struck Clare by surprise. Complete surprise. No one had even noticed Clare got laser eye surgery this year, and here was a goth/emo looking guy saying she had pretty eyes, when he had amazing ones.

"Uh, thanks."

"Well, I gotta audition blue eyes, see ya around."

"See you."

When he went on the stage Clare stood there in the same position for a good ten seconds.

Clare walked through the backstage door where Alli said she was going to wait for her."

"Oh my gosh, Clare, I watched your performance. You were ah-MA-zing! You are so going to get the pa-" Alli paused and noticed the dazed look on Clare's face.

"Clare, does this have anything to do with the really hot guy that I saw waiting in there?"

Clare blushed. "W-what hot guy?"

"The one with the long dark brown hair, full lips, and black clothes! The one that really doesn't look like my type, but who I admitted is hot? The one that's, well, not so tall."

"I guess I kind of...ran in to him."

Alli squealed. "Oh my gosh! What if he gets Romeo's part? Then it'll be fate!"

"Alli, stop. All he said was that my eyes-" Clare stopped, realizing that Alli would take that as a big deal. "Nevermind."

"Clare, you better tell me what he said about your eyes! What did he say?"

"He told me my eyes were pretty."

Alli squealed so loud the whole hallway turned to look at the best friends.

Alli unexpectedly grabbed Clare by the arm and dragged her back onto the backstage.

"Alli! What are you doing?" Clare whispered.

"I need to know if he's going to get the part of Romeo," Alli whispered back, looking through the side of the curtain, watching as the green-eyed boy spoke his lines.

"Why?" Clare asked, but Alli only shushed Clare. They both listened to his performance.

" 'O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Etheiope's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, as yonder lady o'er her fellow shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.' " The kid looked at Declan and his crew.

"Was I good?"

"Amazing!" Declan stood up. "And, to think, you didn't even have the script in front of you!"

Clare and Alli looked at each other. They couldn't believe that he memorized it.

They both walked silently towards the door and when they got out Clare was surprised that she squealed as loud as Alli.

"He's so amazing!"

"Clare, he's as good as you!"

"I can't believe he memorized the whole play-"

"That means he's a romantic, Clare!"

"And his words were so passionate-"

"You're going to make such a cute couple!"

Clare stopped making comments about his performance and had a serious expression.

"Alli. Who said we were going to be a couple?"

"It's obvious, Clare! You two are perfect for each other! And I know that after seeing him for three minutes!" Clare was about to object but Alli continued. "You're both really great actors, and you both obviously love the theater, and he's a romantic, and he's really hot!"

"If he's such a theater geek, maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up."

Alli was confused. "Why would you say- oh! Well, he does wear guyliner, and he has that hair, and those skinny jeans, and you're right about the theater geek thing...but wait! He told you your eyes were pretty!"

"And?"

"I know he's just a romantic, not gay, because I read in a magazine that if a guy is a romantic the first thing he notices about a girl is her eyes. I mean, if they're not ugly eyes."

Clare rolled her "pretty" eyes. "Yeah, and because those magazines are always so right."

Just then, two figures came out of the door. It was him, and another kid. He smirked at Clare before walking off down the hallway. Both Alli and Clare watched his retreating figure until it turned down another hallway.

"His smirk is amazing." Surprisingly, that cam out of Clare's mouth. Clare immediately put her hand over her mouth as if to take back what she said.

Alli pointed at Clare. "Nope! You said it! I knew you liked him!"

"Alli, how could I have a crush on a boy that I've known for five minutes?"

"Because you saw him act."

It was true. When Clare was watching him from behind the stage, something clicked inside her. She sort of instantly fell for him. Some would call it love at first sight.

"Now, Clare. Tomorrow the casting sheet will be posted by the auditorium. When you two get the parts, I bet you a manicure that you'll fall in love.

"You're on." Clare wasn't exactly sure if she would win, but she didn't mind giving Alli a manicure.

"Do you know his name, Clare?"

"They said it was Eli...Eli Goldsworthy."

***Nighttime, Eli's Bedroom***

This was a strange feeling for Eli. It was sort of like a warmth throughout his body, yet it made his heart beat faster and it made him nervous. The rest of the feelings were just teenage hormones.

Did he actually have feelings for this girl? He didn't really remember what it felt like to have a crush, considering how long ago his last one was. He's always only thought that girls were selfish, mean, and the other things he had said to Adam the day before. But this girl that Eli had just met...she was different. She looked sweet, and innocent, caring, smart, and...

Her eyes.

Her eyes were indescribable. Eli thought he was downgrading them when he called them pretty. They were more like...beautiful.

Eli had a love for the theater, but he wasn't good in saying his feelings out loud. He had never shared the sentence, "I love you," with either of his parents, or younger sister. It was strange, but Eli let his feelings out on the stage.

Eli heard a Dead Hand song playing and knew he was getting a call from Adam.

"What's up?" Adam asked.

"They sky."

"That's such a typical Eli comment."

"Well, I am Eli, aren't I?"

"Touche."

"So, why did you call? It's almost 1 am."

"I just wanted to know how you were so good. I mean, I know you're good, but when you acted out that scene to practice in front of me, it was half as good as when you were on stage. That stuff was amazing, man. You could be on Broadway. You know, if you were a good singer."

Eli rolled his eyes at Adam's last comment and answered his question. "You know...I'm better on stage..."

"Okay, now I know for sure that there was a reason. Now you have to tell me."

"When I was on stage I was telling the truth." Eli spat it out quickly, not wanting to admit to anything,

"You were talking about Juliet's beauty. How could that be telling the truth?"

"I never said Juliet," I mumbled.

"Dude...that girl that auditioned for Juliet...were you-"

Eli interrupted. "Oops, my mom's calling me. Gotta go, bye!" Eli quickly hung up, scared of how Adam would judge him at school the next day.

***Eli's Dream***

_He was sitting in the audience, watching her on stage. She was brilliant, acting as Juliet. She was a wonderful actress, and he wondered if she would ever go into bigger and better things. _

_A silhouetted Romeo came and kissed her. He knew it was only for the play, but his body shook with anger as he came up on stage and punched Romeo in the face. Then, he walked over to her and kissed her. _

_Why was there hair in her mouth...?_

"_Eli," she spoke in an angelic voice, "It's time for school."_

Eli woke up with a handful of hair in his mouth. "It's time for school, Elijah! Get up!"

It was just a dream. Eli hoped that while he was asleep he wasn't kissing his pillow.

* * *

**Well, did you like my long first chapter? I hope you did! I really like this story. I'm surprised I came up with the idea. **

**Anyway, the new episode of Degrassi is on tomorrow. I think I'm going to see Paranormal activity 2, though, so I have to watch it the next morning. I saw a picture (SPOILER ALERT) where Eli was having dinner with the Edwards'!**

**Please review. Thanks. **


	2. That kiss better be a stage kiss

**20 people alerted my story. 8 people favorited it. 8 people reviewed it. THANKS!**

**I can't believe that five people favorited me as an author. I love you all. It means a lot to me.**

**Just so you know, there is no dead ex-girlfriend Julia in this story.**

**Degrassi is not mine, Nor it is anyone's on this website, so why is this necessary?**

* * *

Eli pulled in to the school parking lot. He parked his hearse and got out.

Yes, Eli had a hearse. Many of Eli's classmates found it creepy that he was comfortable riding in a car where dead bodies once were.

A lot of people name their cars. Eli was one of those people. But, unlike most car names, his hearse's name was Morty. Mort means death in French.

How original, Eli. Naming a funeral car "death."

Walking towards the building, Eli rolled his eyes at all the stares, finger pointing, and giggles he was getting from a few of the teenagers at Degrassi.

He walked into school, going towards his way-too-colorful locker. Why couldn't they paint the lockers something like gray, or black?

Black would be nice.

In his peripheral vision, he saw a certain hairstyle on someone and immediately knew who it was.

Was her locker really that close to his? How had he never noticed her before...

Of course, now, she was all Eli was noticing. While grabbing his books, he sneaked tiny peeks at Clare, who was also getting books. He didn't notice he was staring at her until someone came over.

"Look who finally has a crush."

It was Adam. Who else?

"What do you mean?" Eli replied, trying to look oblivious by stuffing the rest of his books in his backpack.

"I was watching you stare at that girl for over five minutes. All you did was see her perform a little and you bumped into her. How could you possibly be so in love?"

"Keep your voice down, Adam. And I'm not 'in love.' I just think Clare's different."

"How do you even know her name?"

"I heard them say it."

"Yeah, okay."

"Shut up, Adam. This is none of your business, anyway. Did I criticize you when you called Bianca hot?" Eli instantly regretted saying that.

"Actually you did. Many times."

"Nevermind." Eli closed his locker and walked down the hallway, towards the auditorium. He still had time before class to see if he made the part. From a distance he saw the paper. When he got close enough to see who was playing Romeo, he smirked.

**Romeo-**** Elijah Goldsworthy**

Eli took a pen out and crossed out the "jah" part of his name.

He smirked yet again when he saw:

**Juliet-**** Clare Edwards**

So blue eyes was going to be his love interest. Eli realized that the kissing scene wasn't going to be a problem after all.

***English Class, 1st period***

Clare walked into English with a lot of confidence. She was playing Juliet.

She literally dropped her books in the doorway when she saw who was sitting in the seat in front of hers.

Okay. How long had he been in her class? How had she never noticed him?

But, now that she thought about it, she realized that she had heard the name "Eli" in this class. She also realized that she had seen a dark haired guy in the class.

Clare guessed that the reason she hadn't remembered him was because she had never seen his face before.

Clare's heart started racing when she picked up her books off the floor and everyone turned around. Luckily, Eli was one of the exceptions to turn around. Her heart slowed down slowly. When she quietly sat down she preyed for Eli to not turn around.

He didn't.

He was too busy coloring his nails with a sharpie.

"Good morning class."

There was a mumble of good mornings from a couple of students.

"Today," Ms. Dawes started, "we are going to assign English partners."

Clare searched her mind for people she would want to be her partner. There was no one in the class she knew besides...

Him.

Ms. Dawes said about 4 groups until Clare heard her name.

"Clare Edwards and..."

Eli looked up from his nails. He dropped his sharpie on the floor. She was in his class? How had he never noticed her? That was unbelievable. Eli was thinking, _Say Eli Goldsworthy. Say Eli Goldsworthy. Say Eli Golds-_

"Eli Goldsworthy."

While Eli thought, _Yes! _Clare thought, _Oh no. _But, something they had in common was both their hearts were racing at the speed of light.

Eli looked around the room, trying to find Clare. He turned around in his seat and-

There she was.

He smirked.

_This is not good_, Clare thought. _His smirk..._

Eli broke his gaze of Clare and turned around in his seat, still smirking.

"Class, today we will get to know our partners-"

_Score!_ Eli's mind wandered.

"-By writing an in-class assignment with them. Now, get together with your partner and I will pass out the assignment. If the class gets too loud I will make this a solo paper."

Eli turned around in his seat, still smirking at a shocked Clare.

"Hey Juliet."

Clare tried to get her confidence back and rolled her eyes. "And I suppose you're Romeo, aren't you?"

"Guilty."

"You're way too smug."

"Yeah, well, that's one thing about me that will never change."

Clare looked him over. "You don't really seem like the theater type."

"I don't really seem like a lot of things. That's why some people know me, and some people really know me."

Clare thought about his last sentence. It seemed deep for someone like him. But why would she say, "someone like him?" She knew him for less than two days, she couldn't really know him. Just like he had said.

Eli waved his hand in front of her face. "Clare? Stop dreaming about me, okay?"

She snapped out of it and blushed. She wasn't _dreaming_ about him, but, well, she was thinking.

"Ms. Dawes passed out the papers."

"Oh," Clare answered quietly.

Eli smirked and started to read off the paper. "Answer this open-ended question with your partner based on the short story _The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow._ The story is on pages 201-210 of your textbook."

He looked at Clare. "I left my textbook in my locker. Do you have yours?"

Clare leaned forward on her desk and bit the end of her pen. "No, I left mine in my locker also."

Clare wondered if Eli's lips were lopsided because of how many times he had smirked. He smirked again. "Perfect," he said.

Clare scrunched her brow in confusion while Eli turned to face the board. "Ms. Dawes?" She looked up. "Can Clare and I go to our lockers to get our textbooks?"

"Yes, but that's a zero for both of you." Clare sighed and started to get up. She noticed Ms. Dawes turning around to face her computer.

Clare felt someone's breath by her ear and blushed. "Get your stuff," Eli whispered.

Why was she so worked up over him whispering?

She grabbed her stuff, confused on why she needed it, and headed out the classroom door.

Once they were out of earshot, Clare spoke up. "Why did I take my backpack?"

"Because we're ditching." Clare stopped. Ditching? She barely knew what the word meant.

"You mean...skip class?"

Eli turned around to face her and shrugged. "If you want to get official."

As Eli said that, he thought of a double meaning and realized he would love to get official with her.

"I've never skipped before," Clare said. Eli wasn't surprised. It must have shown on his face because Clare said, "Is it really that obvious?"

"Well..." Eli tried to look like he was thinking about it, but then stopped. "Yes. It is. So come one, live a little!" Eli was moving his arms towards the exit. Clare straightened and walked towards the exit in a proud manner. Eli smirked.

Eli held open the door and Clare smiled at him. They walked through.

Eli led her to his hearse, which he did not yet mention. Actually, to tell the truth, he wasn't thinking about it. Morty was just any other car to him, just way cooler and not as boring.

"You own a hearse?" Clare asked when they had gotten to the car.

"Yep. That's my baby."

Clare raised her eyebrows at him and laughed. Eli smiled.

"It's cool," Clare said about Eli's hearse. "Original."

Eli hid his surprise at Clare's words. For some reason, they went deep. He was used to people being disgusted or annoyed by it, but he rarely ever came across someone that accepted it at first sight. Come to think of it, nobody had ever said anything good about Morty at first sight. His parents were mortified, his sister rolled her eyes, Adam came to conclusions that Eli was obsessed with death, and so on.

But this girl who might have been his first "crush" in years, actually thought it was unique. If he didn't like her then, he definitely liked her now.

***Outside The Dot, the Park Bench***

"So you actually memorized the whole play?"

Eli smirked. "Not the _whole_ play. Just certain parts that I find interesting."

Sitting on this bench outside The Dot, talking, made Eli and Clare both realize that they were falling for each other. Clare realized that Eli's arrogance was just an act, and Eli realized that this so called, "Saint Clare," wasn't so innocent. Eli's nervousness that began to build around her was only inside him. Clare's feelings, however, shone threw her in very clear body language. Eli knew in minutes that Clare was nervous.

Clare realized that Eli was definitely _not_ a romantic, though. Alli was wrong. He had told Clare that he never had a girlfriend, never wanted one. He told her that he didn't believe in happily ever afters. He told her that he wasn't good at expressing his feelings. They talked about so much when Clare realized how late it was.

"Eli, we have to go!"

"Oh, we're not going to play hooky the whole day?"

Clare glared at him and walked towards Eli's strange vehicle.

"No, we're not, and we have our first rehearsal after school today! Remember?"

"Oh yeah..."

They got in the hearse and drove back to school. Some people came outside for lunch, so they mixed in with the crowd(which was hard for Eli) and sneaked into the school.

"What period is it?" Clare asked Eli.

"Do I really seem like the type of person who wears a watch?" Eli answered with a smirk.

Clare rolled her eyes and looked at a clock on the wall. She groaned. "Third period is over in two minutes!"

"Let's wait until third period is over and go into fourth like we never left."

Clare realized that that was pretty much all they could do. The new friends parted and headed towards their fourth period.

***First Meeting for The Play***

All of the actors sat in the audience, waiting for Declan to come on stage and talk to them. Clare came in to the auditorium three minutes late, because of her encounter with Mr. Simpson. He decided to let it go that she and Eli skipped class, since it was both of their first times. Well, at that school. Eli had obviously skipped at his old one.

Clare had not seen Eli at the principals office, but Mr. Simpson told her that he spoke to him beforehand.

She walked down the aisle. The first two rows were filled up. _Wow,_ Clare thought. _We have a big cast._

She looked to the right and saw Eli sitting in the last row by himself. He was sitting low in the seat, slightly frowning, playing with his fingers.

She abruptly sat down next to him, causing him to look up. Clare noticed how much different his face was from when he was sitting by himself to when she was there. He seemed a lot happier, and obviously Clare jumped to conclusions about why he was doing that.

"I was wondering where you were, Edwards," Eli said to her, smirking.

"Actually, Eli, I was in Mr. Simpson's office. Thanks to you."

"As I remember, Clare, you were the one who proudly walked through the back doors of Degrassi when we decided to skip."

"I didn't come up with the idea."

"You could have said no."

"You're a bad influence."

"You're a-"

Eli was cut off by the suddenly hushed auditorium. Declan was up on stage.

"Thank you, cast of our newest play, _Romeo and Juliet."_

"What were you going to call me?" Clare whispered to Eli, leaning to the side. Eli liked the small amount of personal space they each had.

"I was going to call you a hypocrite," Eli whispered back.

This wasn't true. Eli wasn't going to say, "You're a hypocrite."

He was going to say, "You're amazing."

Although, if Declan hadn't interrupted, Eli probably would have hesitated and then said hypocrite. So, he wasn't completely lying.

Clare and Eli both stopped whispering and started to listen to the director.

"Okay. Today we will be looking over our lines and practicing them with a partner." Clare and Eli looked at each other and nodded.

"Remember; your partner does not have to be the person you have the scene with. You could help each other in each of your scenes. Now, find a partner and start."

"When is the play?" Clare asked.

"That's a little ahead of yourself. But it's on December 15th."

Clare frowned a tiny bit, which Eli found really cute.

Okay, since when was Eli using words like cute? He never even said it to describe an animal.

Eli watched Clare look through the packet. She glanced up at Eli for a split second and looked back at the packet. She seemed to see something she didn't like.

What Clare was looking at was a scene in act 1. It said, "Romeo and Juliet kiss."

"What is it?" Eli asked, sure of what she was looking at.

"N-n-nothing," she stuttered. "I just need to ask Declan something." She was about to walk over to Declan but he was standing right there. Eli smirked.

"Yes?" Declan asked her.

Her eyes darted to Eli before resting back on Declan. "I just wanted to ask you if...um...the k-kiss is going to be a stage k-kiss." Clare tried to stop herself from glancing at Eli.

Declan shrugged. "Whatever you want it to be. Just make sure you kiss his mouth and not his neck."

Clare went as red as anyone could be. Declan smiled and went away.

"What was that all about?" Eli asked Clare. He didn't get the kissing neck thing...

"W-w-well, um...last y-year, uh...I kind of...um..."

"Spit it out, Edwards."

She turned to face me. "Last year, I was in the theater production, but not in the cast. I was sort of crushing on Declan at the time, and, well, I kissed his neck."

Eli burst out laughing even though he could tell that she didn't tell the whole story. Clare tried to look annoyed, but Eli saw the smile playing at her lips.

"Oh man," Eli said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Clare punched his arm.

"Ouch, Clare, aggressive much?"

She glared at him in her seat.

"So," Eli started, "what's the whole story?"

Clare sighed before sitting back in her chair and beginning to talk about the Wesley incident.

Eli could already tell that this was going to be one fun season...

* * *

**Well...how did you guys like it? Please tell me, and I'm sorry this took so long to upload. It's not very easy for me to write as quick as some people. PLEASE REVIEW. I will still upload if I don't get ten more reviews, I just want to see if you guys can do it. Come on, all you have to do is press "review" and write, "cool" or whatever. You could write, "you suck" for all I care. I just want a review. So, 10 REVIEWS PLEASE. WITH A BUNCH OF WHIPPED CREAM AND CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES ON TOP. **

**Thanks! **


	3. Why does she blush all the time?

**Just so you know, Clare never dated Kc in this story. So Clare and Eli never had a bf/gf...interesting.**

**Last Friday at school two kids got arrested for being drug dealers. And I'm in 8th grade. Also on Friday, Eli's parents were hysterical. I was cracking up.**

**Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. DEGRASSI! (BTW, thanks for reviews+ favorites. :)**

***Eli's house***

"I'm home!" Eli yelled when he walked into his house. It was 4 o' clock, after rehearsal.

Eli's sister ran downstairs. "Eli, I knew you were here when I heard the door unlocking. You don't need to make a big scene of yourself."

"Hi, Eli. How was school? Fine, Emma. How was yours?" Eli looked at Emma and she smirked. Her smirk looked exactly like Eli's.

Emma was in the eighth grade at Degrassi Middle School. She looked a lot like Eli, except in a more girly way. Eli and Emma were those rare types of siblings that never fight. Eli knew that Emma idolized him, so he tried to be a good role model. So far, he hadn't done anything bad to influence her.

Emma took a lot after her older brother. She was a little more colorful in the clothes department, but she listened to the same type of music and had most of the same views about things. They didn't hang out much, but when they did they were always joking around, making sarcastic comments to each other. Both of them enjoyed it.

A girl that looked about Emma's age came down the stairs. She looked at Eli and blushed, eyes wide.

"Oh, this is my friend Chloe," Emma told Eli. "You can go upstairs, I'll be right there," She told her friend.

Chloe went upstairs.

"She's totally into you," Emma whispered to Eli.

Eli rolled his eyes and smirked. "Well tell her not to get her hopes up, I have a new...friend from school."

"You have a girlfriend?" Emma stared at Eli. He had never mentioned anything, and they pretty much told each other everything. Emma had already had two boyfriends in the past, but Eli had never mentioned having a girlfriend. 

"I'll talk to you later about it." Eli went upstairs and Emma followed.

"Fine," she said.

They parted into their separate rooms.

Emma walked in to find Chloe listening to her iPod. Chloe quickly took off the headphones. "Close the door," she whispered.

Emma closed the door confusedly. Chloe started babbling as soon as Emma did that.

"Why didn't you tell me your brother was so hot?"

Emma was kind of weirded out by this. She knew that her brother was good looking, but she never thought of him as hot. That was just weird.

"Um, because I wasn't thinking about it? Do you call your brother hot?"

"I don't have a brother, Emma!"

She rolled her eyes. "If you had one, would you call him hot?"

Chloe glared at Emma. Emma wondered what she did to get glared at. It wasn't her fault that good looks ran in the family!

The whole reason Chloe was over was because of their social studies project, but Chloe decided she was going to become real good friends with Emma...

***7:30 in the Goldsworthy Household***

"Why do our parents insist on having dinner so early?"

"Eli, it's 7:30. That's not exactly early."

"Well considering I go to bed at 1 am, it is."

"Maybe you should go to bed a little earlier, then."

"Maybe you should go to bed a little later."

Eli was sitting on his bed, with his laptop in front of him. Emma was sitting in a chair, with her laptop also in front of her. They had just had dinner.

"So, Eli, tell me about your new girlfriend."

"She is not my girlfriend."

"Ha! You admitted there was a 'she.'"

"I got the part of Romeo."

Emma looked up. "Really? That's awesome."

"Thanks, but I became friends with the girl who plays Juliet."

Emma looked at her computer screen while saying, "Well, isn't that perfect?"

Eli was about to object, but closed his mouth. If he thought about it, it was kind of perfect. Classic "boy meets girl," while they're meeting in the play for Romeo and Juliet.

Eli always knew that his sister was smarter than him. Not school smart, street smart. In school, Emma got low B's and C's, and D's weren't that uncommon either. Eli, however, got A's most of the time without studying. He was naturally smart. Well, in school at least.

"Emma...why is it that I never used to have crushes?" 

Emma shrugged. "It was how you saw certain girls. You always pushed everyone away, so you never got to meet anyone. You never even got to have friends." Emma was more popular than Eli. She wasn't "popular," per say, she just had more friends and went out more.

Eli knew that Emma was good at this type of thing; determining thoughts about relationships.

"Eli, you know what's weird?"

"What?"

"When I said, 'she's totally into you,' about Chloe, I was just kidding. But she actually is."

Eli smirked. As conceited as it sounds, Eli was used to this kind of attention from girls.

Emma continued. "She was obsessing over your eyes that she saw for about ten seconds, and then I was like, 'Chloe! He has the exact same eyes as me!'"

Eli laughed. "What did she say?"

"She tilted her head to the side and said, 'oh, you have pretty eyes. I never noticed.' It was so stupid! That girl is a total fake."

"Didn't you say she was your friend?"

"Nah, we're just working on a project together. But all of the sudden she wants to have a sleepover now."

Was that just funny, or did it mean it was getting out of hand?

***The Next Day at Rehearsal***

Eli and Clare were up on stage this time. Declan wanted to show the rest of the cast how good the two were. Clare was grateful that Declan hadn't chosen the scene where Romeo and Juliet kiss.

"...See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand,that I might touch that cheek!"

Clare was blushing. She was never, ever nervous on stage. But this? She was going to have to get used to saying romantic Shakespearean works of art to this boy. She was grateful that her next line was only two words, because any more words and she would be stuttering.

"Ay me!" She said.

Eli had seen her act when she was auditioning, but right now she seemed way worse. Declan was holding his forehead as if he had a headache. This just wasn't the same Clare.

Eli smirked, and Clare practically fainted. "She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes of mortals that fall back to gaze on him when he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds and sails upon the bosom of the air."

This was a famous scene in which Juliet would be on a balcony. Romeo is talking about how he loves hearing Juliet's voice, and she speaks from above(the balcony) as if she were an angel. Eli began to question how good he would be in future plays when he didn't have a muse. He would barely admit it to Adam, but Clare was his muse. When he was talking about her voice, her beauty, he angel-likeness, he was really basing it all on Clare.

Clare took a deep breath and tried not to focus on the work of art standing across from her, looking into her eyes.

This time, she was much better. She shut off all thoughts on Eli and read her lines. "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."

Juliet practically just said that she wanted to marry Romeo.

Eli smirked before taking a step to the side and turning to face the crowd. Clare was confused at why he was doing this at first, but then she looked at her script. It said, "Romeo: [Aside]

Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" Eli said that and faced Clare again.

Clare tried to not be nervous. She got a little better by the end of the scene where they could go home. Since the play had just started, they only had 45 minutes of practice. Clare and Eli walked out together.

"I happened to notice that I make you nervous, Blue Eyes." Eli opened the door for her.

"I happened to notice that you're arrogant."

"C'mon, I know you don't mean that."

Clare smiled. He was pretty smart.

"Why do you do that?" Clare asked.

"What?"

"Act like you're full of yourself."

"How do you know I'm acting?"

Clare gave Eli an annoyed look.

"Okay, fine," he said. " I don't know why, I just like seeing people's reactions."

That seemed like a good enough answer to Clare. Then she realized she had to walk home.

"Need a ride?" Eli asked when Clare groaned.

"Please," Clare answered.

***Inside Morty***

An awkward silence filled the air until Eli spoke.

"Why do you blush all the time?" Eli asked.

"That's a weird question."

"That's not an answer."

Clare thought for a few seconds about why she blushed.

""I'm a naturally shy person."

Eli had wished she would come up with a big explanation. He was bored, and the thought of having Clare in his car and not saying anything to her made him want to hit himself.

After a few minutes Eli realized that he had no idea where Clare's house was. He was about to ask when Clare said,

"Wow, Eli. Stalker much?"

"What?" Eli had no idea what that meant.

"This is my house."

Eli looked to the side and saw a nice looking house.

"Really? I swear, I had no idea. I was actually driving to my house, and I was just about to ask you where yours was."

"Well, it's right here!" Clare opened the car door when it stopped. "See you tomorrow," she said.

Eli drove home with his radio on. He found nothing that was good for him, so he turned it off, forced to let his thoughts roam.


	4. Way Too Much Makeup

**It baffles me how I only have three chapters for this story so far, yet I have more favorites and alerts then my old story, Head Over Heels. I guess this story is better?You tell me! **

**So the reason I know some stuff about theater is because I was in the stage crew in my school musical last year. I'm going to be in it this year, too.**

**In this story, Eli is not a hoarder. His room is just messy, like any normal teenage guy's room would be.**

**Sorry for the lack of Eclare at the beginning of this chapter, and sorry for the lack of updating. It takes so long! I hate that!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, Readers.**

***The Next Day, Emma's School***

It was Friday. The last day of the week. Every kid in the middle school was anticipating to GET THE HECK OUTTA THERE.

Emma was sitting in her assigned seat in last period. Science. She hated science. It was boring and disgusting.

Emma scowled at the girl sitting in front of her. It was Chloe. She had perfect straight hair, way too much makeup, perfect manicured nails, and more. The girl even had a dumb-blonde voice, and she wrote in those huge bubble letters. Emma didn't despise any girl who wrote like that, just the girls who wrote like that on purpose.

Emma scowled again. Chloe's Ugg boots were sickening. And the last thing that sickened her was the Justin Bieber bracelet.

Really? Justin Beiber? Listening to him literally made Emma sick.

Class ended and Emma rushed out with one of her real friends. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and it was Chloe. Emma involuntarily rolled her eyes Chloe didn't seem to notice.

"Hey Emma!"

"Hi...?"

"I was wondering if I could come over your house to work on the project again today."

"My brother won't be home," Emma spit out. It wasn't true; she just hoped to get out of having Chloe at her house.

Chloe seemed a little less enthusiastic, but tried to hide it. "So? This is about our project. See you later!" Chloe walked off to her locker, her perfect hair flowing behind her.

Emma hated her social studies teacher for coming up with the idea of this project.

***At Degrassi***

Clare had practiced her lines the night before, trying to be less nervous. It worked when Eli wasn't around, but when he was, she was very nervous. Clare was scared that they would kick her out of the cast for being so bad, but she was determined to be better.

She closed her locker and headed towards the auditorium.

Meanwhile, Eli was thinking the same thing. He was also worried that Clare would get kicked off. He enjoyed her little blushes and stammers, and he enjoyed her. He had finally admitted to himself that he liked Clare, a little more than a friend. He didn't tell this straight to anyone. Emma and Adam knew, but he wouldn't say to their face, "I have a crush on Clare." The word "crush" was such an elementary word, anyway.

Eli headed towards the auditorium also when he saw Adam.

"Eli!" Adam yelled.

"Yeah..."

"I signed up for stage crew!"

"That's so cool!" Eli answered. Eli was glad he was going to have his friend around for stage crew, but for some reason he felt a little disappointed. He was mad at himself for it, but for a second he realized that sometime he would have to to talk to Adam...and not Clare.

"Yeah," Adam continued, "but I won't be with you for two weeks. We have to do our own thing, first, I guess."

"Not that I don't want you to be on the stage crew, but, why did you join?"

Eli raised his eyebrows at his friend. Adam blushed.

"You know...it's not because of a girl or anything..." Adam said uncertainly.

Eli slapped Adam on his shoulder. "Call you later," He said, smirking. He walked away.

If it wasn't obvious, Adam joined the stage crew because a specific girl, and her name was Fiona Coyne.

We won't get into that now, though.

The third rehearsal was uneventful. Eli and Clare didn't talk as much, because Declan required practicing with more of your cast mates, if you had scenes with them. Clare was practicing with the girl who played her nurse and the girl who played her mom. Before they knew it, rehearsal was over. Clare got to know her cast mates, but they didn't seem the type to be her friends. They didn't seem like they loved the theater; they seemed like they thought the idea of acting was cool. Clare heard on of them tell the other that they thought it was a musical, and they were disappointed. Since when was Romeo and Juliet ever a musical?

Clare rushed out, forgetting that she actually had a friend in the cast. Who she so happened to like. Eli, however, didn't take his mind off her the whole time. He ran up behind Clare and pulled her back by gripping his hand on the strap of her backpack. Clare turned around, confused. When she saw it was Eli she grinned, blushed, and rolled her eyes.

"Have somewhere to go?" Eli asked, raising his eyebrows while walking beside Clare.

"No. Just to a house of yelling and screaming," she said. She was half joking, but her parents had been fighting a lot lately, so she disliked going home. Eli took it seriously.

"I'm sorry. Want to come to my place instead?"

Clare stopped. "Uh...sure..." She was a bit uncomfortable, yet excited at the same time. Eli found his own heart was speeding up to a pace faster than usual.

"Hop in," Eli gestured to Morty. Clare half smiled and went in.

When Eli strapped himself in, he said, "I just have to pick up my little sister first. From the middle school."

Clare found herself a little more comfortable with the thought of a middle schooler in the car with her and Eli. She also felt a little awkward. She was a little shy around people she didn't know.

"You never told me you had a little sister," Clare said.

"You never told me you had an older sister." Clare was a little surprised at his words. She had never told him.

"How did you know I had an older sister?"

Eli shrugged while pulling into the middle school. "I heard some people saying 'Darcy and Clare Edwards,' or something like that."

"Yeah, well, I guess I can't blame you for not telling me. It's not like we've known each other for months. Even weeks." Eli pulled in to the parking lot and parked.

"I'm going to go get her," he said. "I like seeing the faces on all of the middle school girls. I'm serious, every friend that Emma has brought home, has blushed around me."

Clare rolled her eyes. "Eli, I know you're a chick magnet. Now go!"

Eli smirked and slammed the hearse door. He walked up to the school right when the bell rang. He opened the door, which was unlocked because it was the end of the day, and thought to himself that if the door was locked, they so wouldn't have let a guy like him in.

He walked right in to the main office and smirked at the secretary's raised eyebrows.

"I'm here to pick up my little sister," he announced.

"And who might that be?" the secretary asked.

"Emma Goldsworthy," Eli answered. He loved the reactions of adults seeing him.

"Does she know that you are picking her up?" She asked. She looked at Eli through her spectacles and Eli couldn't help but snort at how cliched she was.

He coughed to cover up the snort and said yes.

A few moments later Emma walked into the office and smiled at Eli. Even though they had the same smirk, Emma still smiled more than she smirked.

And right behind Emma, came Chloe.

Eli rolled his eyes when Chloe gave him a huge smile.

"Um, Eli? I have to work on the project with Chloe today, so you kind of have to drive her."

Eli was annoyed at first, but then realized that Chloe would get to meet Clare...how interesting...

Eli pulled over Emma to the side and whispered in her ear. "I have Clare in the car."

"Who's Clare?"

"Clare...my, 'friend'..."

Emma's eyes got wide. "Ohhhh!" she said.

"There won't be enough space in the hearse for your little friend."

Emma got a glint in her eye. "Maybe..." She turned and headed towards Chloe who was chewing gum and texting on her phone.

Emma whispered in Chloe's ear. "Chloe, Eli's _girlfriend_ is in the _hearse_, so there won't be enough space for you. Unless you want to sit in the _back_, where coffins had been."

Chloe winced when Emma said, "girlfriend," "hearse," and "coffins," yet she didn't let go of the opportunity to go to that amazingly hot guy's house.

***Inside Morty, the very cool hearse***

It was awkward when Clare first saw Eli's sister. In her opinion, Emma looked like a girl clone of Eli. She had the same eyes, nose, mouth, and smirk. The only difference was Emma was pretty, while Eli couldn't be described as pretty, since he was a guy.

Clare noticed that Emma wore light colored makeup, in contrast to Eli's dark eyeliner. She was wearing black skinny jeans, but her shirt was light blue, and her sneakers were white and blue. She had square blue studs as her earrings, and Clare could tell that Emma was not as girly as her.

Emma was wearing a thin light blue line of eyeliner, mascara, and a little lip gloss. The girl behind her was wearing what looked like a mask.

There was no way you could tell if this girl was pretty or not. She had cover-up covering her whole face, and there was not a single blemish on her face. She had a very sparkly lip gloss, and her eyelashes were so thick they looked like one full line. The eyeliner was coming way too far below and above her dull brown eyes. She was wearing jeggings with Uggs and her tank top was short enough for you to see a little bit of her stomach. She was wearing a short cropped sweater over it. Her hair was chest length and straightened to the tip, while Emma's was waved to perfection down to above her belly button.

Eli got in the car. "Who's that?" Clare said, pointing to the obviously fake girl.

Eli rolled his eyes. "Emma's project partner. She thinks I'm hot." Clare blushed and felt a tiny bit jealous of this girl, but didn't anymore when the girl scowled at her and went to sit in the backseat. Emma came up front and sat next to Clare.

"Hey, I'm Emma."

"I'm Clare, Eli's...English partner."

Emma smiled. "Yeah, Eli's told me much about you."

Clare blushed while Eli punched Emma's arm behind Clare's back.

"Eli tried to cover it up. "She asked me who was playing Juliet and I said Clare Edwards. End of story." He glared at Emma before pulling out of the middle school parking lot. Clare wasn't sure if she believed him, but realized already that Emma was a lot like Eli.

Chloe, meanwhile, glared at the three of them from the back of the hearse. Especially Clare. Who did she think she was, going around stealing her man? Well, technically Eli wasn't Chloe's man _yet,_ but she wanted him almost as much as she wanted Justin Beiber. Either way, they were both short, teenage, Canadian hotties.

Just how she liked her guys.

***Eli and Emma's house***

Eli unlocked the front door, letting in a nervous Clare, smug Emma, and annoyed Chloe. Clare was nervous from being in Eli's house. Chloe was annoyed because she wouldn't be able to make a move on Eli if he was hanging out with his girlfriend, and Emma was smug because Chloe was annoyed.

"Welcome to La Casa de Goldsworthy," Eli announced while Emma and Chloe headed upstairs.

Clare giggled. "Seems pretty nice. What's that room back there?"

"Oh," Eli said, "that's my dad's studio. He's a DJ."

'What kind of DJ?"

Eli smirked. "He's one of those annoying DJ's, the ones who make those offensive jokes. You could call him a shock jock. I wouldn't advise you to listen to his station."

Clare laughed. "Okay..?"

"Now, let's go up to my room, shall we?"

Clare noticed that the fake proper thing was a reference to Shakespeare.

XXXXXXXX

Clare was sitting in Eli's desk chair, looking at Eli's room. Eli was laying on his bed throwing a baseball up and down.

Eli's room was messy. There were dirty clothes strewn on the floor and old socks laying on desks. There were three empty water bottles next to the computer. There were a ton of old papers on the desk. When they walked in Eli pushed some stuff under his bed. He didn't seem the least bit embarrassed about his messiness.

There were a few band posters on the wall, more Dead Hand posters then anything else.

"Eli, have you ever kissed anyone?"

This question didn't seem to bother Eli, and he didn't seem to think it was strange.

"Yes. My first kiss was in my freshman year with a goth girl named Julia, but I realized I didn't like her, so I didn't date her."

"Same thing with me," Clare said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"This kid Kc really liked me last year, but I only thought of him as a friend. He kissed me and I told him to back off. A few weeks later he became one of my best friend's boyfriend. So, it turned out that if I did date him we wouldn't of lasted long anyway."

Eli smirked.

"She wasn't my only kiss, though," he said.

Clare waited for him to continue, but he didn't. She shrugged it off.

Eli's other kiss was a few months back at a Dead Hand concert. He went by himself, and started talking to some random girl who was by herself. It resulted in Eli making out with a girl who's name he didn't even know. After, she gave him a piece of paper that didn't say her phone number, it said, "3243." Eli then came to the conclusion that maybe she had a drink she wasn't supposed to.

XXXXXXXX

"So, the Mississippi river goes here..."

"I guess," Chloe said.

"And I'm pretty sure this is where the mountains are supposed to go," Emma continued.

"Cool," Chloe said, staring at a picture of Eli and Emma Emma had in her room.

Emma looked up. "Are you even paying attention?"

"To tell you the truth...no. I'm thinking about something."

"What's that?" Emma asked, sure she knew what it was.

"I'm thinking about how your brother is alone in his room with his girlfriend. With the door closed."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I think I know my brother a little better than you. He wouldn't do anything."

"And," Emma continued, "I lied about Clare being his girlfriend. They're just friends that like each other."

"Still, I think we should check on them."

"I'm not one for spying, Chloe."

"I thought you were my friend," Chloe said. At this Emma looked up from her project. She had called Chloe her friend, but they both knew that they wouldn't talk to each other, ever, after the project was fiinshed.

But, Chloe was blackmailing Emma, in a way. Chloe knew that Emma needed her as a partner, since there were no people without partners in the class left. If Emma were to say that they weren't friends, Chloe would ditch Emma right away.

Emma needed a partner, so she decided to help spy.

They quietly walked towards Eli's door, that had a bunch of posters all over it. Emma hesitated before putting her ear on the door.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

Chloe looked at Emma. She was confused. "What the heck?"

"They're practicing their lines for the play."

Chloe was still confused.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Eli and Clare are playing Romeo and Juliet in their school's play."

Emma smirked at Chloe's shocked face. They listened for more words coming from inside the room.

"...And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss," they heard Clare say.

Then there were no words.

No continuations from either Clare or Eli.

"You know what this means?" Chloe whispered.

Emma rolled her eyes. "What does it mean?"

"When they're not talking, they're doing other things," Chloe said.

"Emma, two things. First of all, I think if they were making out in there it wouldn't be so quiet. Second of all, if they were making out in there, I really wouldn't care. Seriously Chloe, you can think he's hot but you can't be a stalker."

This seemed to calm Chloe down quite a bit. She smiled her fake smile at Emma and said, "You're right. Let's go work on the project."

***The Edwards Home***

Eli dropped Clare off after they practiced their lines. When Eli heard whispering outside his door, he shushed Clare. They both listened to the two girls outside Eli's door and stifled laughter at their conversation. Clare blushed at what they heard the girls saying, but still was cracking up (silently).

Clare walked into her house, where yelling was taking place. She rolled her eyes. Why were they yelling if her dad came home early?

Wait...it didn't sound like they were yelling at each other...

"...How does he have the nerve to talk about that kind of thing on the radio? He can't just make Jesus jokes like that. It's ridiculous!"

Clare walked in. Her parents weren't yelling at each other. They were yelling at something, but agreeing on it.

"What are you guys talking about?" Clare asked.

Her father rubbed his forehead. "Nothing. Just some stupid DJ on the radio station. He calls himself, 'Bullfrog,' or something." Her dad laughed. "He sure sounds like one."

Clare smiled at her parents ability to agree on something.

**Well, did you like it? I did. I thought it was satisfactory.**

**I am so sorry for the very late update. I made It up to you by giving you a long chapter.**

**BTW, look up, "Munro Chambers singing" on youtube. He's really good. AMAZING. I don't know why he doesn't make a band or something. He should.**

**And yes, I will be adding drama between the Edwards and Goldsworthy family. You guys can try to predict why I'm doing that. ;)**

**Review please! It's make my day!**

**The first person that reviews gets a shout out next chapter!**


	5. Fridays are Routine

**Well, you guys are amazing. I got 7 reviews after the first day. So, I'm going to try to do this all in an hour, but I don't think it's going to work, with my need to make long chapters and all.**

**I've been spending so much time watching episodes of, "The Latest Buzz" on youtube. It's such a bad show, but Munro is just so cute that I can't resist. :) I love Wilder! (His character.)**

**I'm so glad Clare and Eli are finally a happy, cute, funny couple (In the show). No more problems! (Hopefully.) **

**Just so you know, everyone's reviews are appreciated. Even that bad review I got that said, "Not very good. Got off topic too much." **

**Clareandeliforever:**** you were my first reviewer. Congratulations, you get a shout out. And thanks!**

***Monday Morning In The Goldsworthy Residence***

The alarm clock was ringing. That was all it was, just a ringing in the background. It was barely audible covered by the deep sleep that enveloped Eli. When it had first went off, it woke him up, but he never moved. Every ring became more and more muffled as his thoughts drifted back to his dream. He didn't try to turn the clock off. In about thirty seconds, he fell asleep again, not paying attention to the loud beeping.

"Eli. Eli! You have to get to school!"

There was Emma. Standing next to Eli's bed, showered, dressed, and ready for school.

Eli grumbled nonsense.

"Clare!" Emma yelled.

Eli's head didn't jerk up at the sound of the name, like Emma hoped it would. Eli just seemed to wake up a little bit.

"What?"

"It's 7:20..."

At this, Eli jerked up. He fell out of bed. "Get out," he mumbled to Emma.

Eli stumbled into the bathroom, almost dripping over a book on the floor. He splashed cold water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. He brushed his teeth and got dressed, brushing his hair on the way downstairs.

"Where's Emma?" He yelled to his mom.

"She went on the bus, sweetie."

"Kay."

He grabbed his backpack and walked outside to his car. He went in and put the key in the ignition. He turned the key-

And the car didn't start.

Eli cursed and got out. He resorted in walking to school.

When he got there it was already 8:00. He had missed most of first period, which was English with Clare.

He went in and didn't get a late pass. If he was marked absent then he would be able to skip classes. He went to his locker and pushed his backpack in, grabbing loose papers and shoving them in the recyclable bin. He got his books and made his way to English, where there was only ten more minutes of class.

But, you know, if he came in late everyone would turn and look at him . Eli didn't like that kind of awkward attention.

The attention Eli did like, though, was the applause of a crowd after a performance on stage. That attention wasn't awkward, it was admiration.

So, Eli decided to head to the library and read a book or something instead of going to only ten minutes of class.

After five minutes of slowly walking to library, sneaking behind the librarian, and finding a book that actually looked interesting, Eli sat down in the corner and began to read.

The bell rang and Eli stuffed the book he had been reading back into the shelf.

He walked out and started going to art.

XXXXXXXX

Clare let herself look forward to seeing Eli at school. When she didn't see him in English she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Was he sick? Was he just late for class?

She told herself not to get her hopes up. If he wasn't at rehearsal, then it would be fine. If she survived at school before he came, then she could survive for one day without him, right?

It turned out that she had all the reason to get her hopes up. She saw him at lunch, sitting by himself at a table outside. Clare noticed that when no one is around Eli, he usually gets the opposite of a smirk on his face. Like a grimace. Well, Eli was grimacing at that moment.

When she sat down across from him, he lifted his face up and his grimace changed to a smile. Then, as if in default, it changed into a smirk.

"What's happening, Edwards?" Eli asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Oh, nothing. Why weren't you in first period today?"

"Miss me?"

Clare rolled her eyes, so Eli continued.

"I slept over my alarm. When I got to school there was only ten minutes of first period left, so I decided to bail. I mean, I'm already marked absent, why should I go to classes?"

"Why did you come to school in the first place if you weren't going to go to classes?" Clare asked.

"Because of rehearsal later, and-"

"Hey, you didn't call on Friday," Someone from behind said. The voice sounded sort of girly, and Clare thought for a second that Eli was going to call a girl.

But, a guy sat down at the table.

"We hung out on Saturday. And Sunday," Eli said to the guy.

"But still, at school on Friday, you said you would call me later, and you didn't." Eli laughed.

"Always so specific, Adam."

Eli noticed Clare sitting beside Adam shyly, looking at them.

"Oh, Clare, this is Adam. He's my best friend." Eli turned to Adam. "Adam, this is Juliet. Romeo's soul mate." Eli raised his eyebrows up and down at Clare, who blushed and rolled her eyes, looking away. Adam laughed.

"Hi, I'm Adam, as Eli said. He's told me much about you."

It was Clare's turn to raise her eyebrows. Eli kicked Adam under the table. "I told him that Clare Edwards was playing Juliet. End of story."

"Funny," Clare said, "he's the second person that said that, and you had the same response both times."

Eli almost blushed at this, and was glad when Clare changed the subject.

"I'm going to go get lunch. See you at rehearsal," she said.

"See ya," Eli said, still a little embarrassed.

As Clare was walking away, she heard Adam yell, "He'll miss you!"

She laughed and turned around for a brief second. When she turned back around she heard a "shut up!" and and "ow!"

Adam and Eli were the cutest, most cliched best friends Clare had ever seen.

***During The Week***

For some reason, Declan refused to let Eli and Clare rehearse together the whole week.

Actually, the reason was pretty obvious to most of the cast. Declan wanted to see if Clare could act better if she wasn't around Eli, and she could. She just needed to relax a little bit, get into character. If she was going to be nervous, Declan would have to get rid of either her or Eli. To him, they were of equal value. So, that week, Clare practiced with Paris, Tybalt, the nurse, Capulet, and Lady Capulet. She hadn't exactly learned all their real names yet...

Eli had worked with Mercutio, Tybalt, Benvolio, Montauge, Lady Montauge, and Escalus.

Declan avoided them working together at all costs throughout the week. He was thinking about letting them do a scene together on Monday, the day that the stage crew came and would start to move minor things on the stage. When they started to actually act out scenes on stage.

So, Eli and Clare only saw each other in English, yet during the week there were no partner assignments.

At lunch, Clare sat with her friend every other week. When she didn't, Adam was at the table with them, so they never got any one-on-one time.

And after school, Eli didn't want to seem like he was begging her to come over, so he only asked her on Wednesday, when she couldn't go.

It sucked to barely see each other.

***Friday at Last***

After what seemed like a lifetime to Eli and Clare, it was Friday. It took so long to get there, yet now that they were there, it seemed like a millisecond.

"Hey, Clare," Eli said, slowing down to let Clare catch up with him. He opened the auditorium doors and let her through.

"Wanna hang out again today?" He asked quickly, not able to hold it in anymore.

"What, are Friday's going to become our hang out day?" Clare asked.

Eli smirked. "Sure, but only until 5. Friday is guys night with Adam."

"What would we do?" Clare asked, flattered that Eli was sharing Friday with her.

"We could go to the Dot," Eli suggested.

They agreed and walked to the Dot. It was slightly awkward when they were walking towards there. Both of them happened to forget that they were friends, and could talk about anything.

XXXXXXXX

***Later At Clare's house***

"The food is really good, Mom," Clare said. They were eating at the dinner table.

Clare's father shrugged when his wife asked him what he thought of it. "It's okay," he said. Clare's mother stiffened while Clare sighed.

"Why can't you just appreciate the fact that I make dinner for you every night?"

_Here we go, _Clare thought.

"I would if you just appreciated the fact that I make the money for you to but this food!"

Clare interrupted before her parents continued. "About that radio station!" she yelled.

Her parents looked at her.

"You were talking about a radio station that was-" she avoided using the phrase, 'pissing you off,' and said, "-angering you." Her heart was beating a little fast.

Neither of her parents answered. They were both still fuming at each other and couldn't just go into casual conversation like nothing happened.

"What radio station was it? Who was the DJ?"

"Um..I don't remember the radio station it was," her dad admitted confusedly, "but the DJ was someone named Bob...Bob Goldsworth, or something-"

Clare's fork dropped on the floor. She picked it up quickly.

"Did you say Goldsworth...or Goldsworthy."

"Oh, yeah! It was Goldsworthy. Why are you so shocked?"

"I have to go," Clare said, rushing up to her room.

She got out her phone and called Eli.

"We have a problem."

**It was shorter than my other chapters, but I think it was okay. & I'm going to be skipping large amounts of days at a time. At the most, I would skip one week in a row. At the _most._**

**I have an excuse to not update as much now- school is getting worse. I mean, I had to do this project on Kelly Clarkson for music, and it was annoying. **

**Remember, be the first to review and get a fruit-smelling sticker!**

**(Just kidding. You get a shout-out, not a sticker.)**

**I do not own.**


	6. Chick Flicks are not my thing

**Can you guys please stop telling me to update soon? You know it won't happen for at least three or four days. Sorry, I just have other stuff to do. Like I want to reread Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before the movie comes out, but I only have two days so it probably won't happen.**

**This was more than 3 or 4 days. I know. I feel so mean. I'M SORRY!**

**MadameDegrassi345: You were my first reviewer, here's your shout out! And when I first read your review, I didn't understand it, but now I do. Yeah. Sorry 'bout the cliffs.**

**Disclaimer: Yo soy no Degrassi Propia. (I don't own Degrassi)**

"What do you mean, we have a 'problem?'" Eli said into the phone. Clare could hear him smirking,

"I mean, my parents hate your parents."

Eli's smirk went away and his eyebrows scrunched. "Huh?"

"My dad heard your dad on the radio and is going to like, _sue_ him for saying something offensive about Catholics or something."

"_Sue?_ He can't sue my dad. First of all, no one would win, and second of all, if you-"

"My dad, not me," Clare argued.

"If your _dad_ wins, then my dad will lose his job and then we'll have no money. Clare, you have to tell your dad that your friends with-"

"I can't!" Clare interrupted. "Then he'll come to conclusions that you're just like your dad and he won't let me see you."

Eli smirked at the fact that Clare wanted to see him.

"I mean..." Clare started to say. "Ugh. I was exaggerating about the suing thing. My dad wouldn't do that just because of some shock jock."

"Wow, thanks Clare. So now my dad is 'some shock jock,'" Eli said.

"Eli, seriously? Can we talk about this from my point of view? My parents hate yours. And they don't even know each other."

"Come to think of it, I sort of remember my dad making fun of _some religious family_," Eli said, mocking Clare.

"Fine, Eli. I never met your dad, so I don't know what he's like. Happy?"

"I was actually kidding. My dad can be annoying and offensive at times."

Clare rolled her eyes.

"Wait, Clare..."

"What?"

"What's the problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"You called saying that there was a problem," Eli stated. "What is it?"

"You don't understand how angry my dad is at that radio station. He wouldn't let me be friends with the son of the person he despises."

"Why not?"

"My dad's weird like that."

"So don't tell him," Eli suggested.

"Huh?" Clare said, as if Eli were speaking a second language.

"Just don't mention me. If we ever hang out, just say you were hanging out with your friend Adam."

"I guess."

"Okay..." Eli said.

"Well, I guess, bye," Clare answered awkwardly.

"Wait! Clare!" Eli yelled.

"Yeah?"

"My friend Adam wants to bring a 'female friend' to guys night, so do you wanna come over? I mean, " Eli said, before Clare could come to conclusions that he was asking her out, "I don't want to be the third wheel, so I could use another friend to occupy me." Eli then realized that even that sounded like he was asking her out. _'Occupy me?'_ Eli thought. _Is that really the best you could come up with? _"I mean...," he started, "Uh. Nevermind. How about it?"

Clare had blushed, raised her eyebrows, rolled her eyes, and giggled while Eli was saying all that.

"Sure. Except I don't know where you live...?" Clare answered.

"I'll pick you up." Eli said quickly. "Bye." He hung up immediately, and unexpectedly. The fact was Adam just walked into Eli's room and Eli was afraid Adam would yell something into the phone.

"Hey, Adam, we have to go pick up Clare."

"We're picking up Fiona first."

"What? Can't she drive? Doesn't she have a chauffeur or something?"

Adam glared at Eli. "I told her I would pick her up."

"Okay Adam. First you bail on guys night, and then you want me to pick up your date?"

"I'm sorry, but-" A buzzing came from Adam's pocket. "I got a text."

Adam looked at the text. It was from Fiona. "Oh. Eli, she said that she's going to drive here."

"Hopefully she's not drunk," Eli mumbled.

Adam obviously heard, because he pushed Eli.

"What?" Eli said, "You don't know about her reputation?"

Eli smirked at Adam's glare and walked downstairs. He grabbed his keys and went outside to pick up Clare. He put the key in the ignition, and, thank god, Morty started. The drive was boring, but when he got to Clare's house, she was already outside.

"I would make some comment about you wanting to see me as soon as possible," Eli started, "But I think I've made too much of those."

Clare didn't roll her eyes. Instead she began to ramble about why she was outside.

"My parents were practically screaming at each other and I would rather sit outside then hear them talk about why he doesn't think she looks good in her new dress." Eli opened his mouth but Clare continued. "And since you said I can't tell them about you, it wouldn't be a good idea for you to show up at my door or honk or something."

Clare said that in a matter of thirty seconds. Eli smirked.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Is anyone here besides Adam and..."

"Fiona Coyne," Eli rolled his eyes. "And no. They're the only ones here."

"Fiona Coyne?" Clare asked, blushing.

"Yeah, why?" Eli walked in the house.

"She's Declan's brother!"

"Hence the same last name," Eli pointed out.

Eli didn't realize that Clare was talking about the whole 'kissing Declan's neck incident,' so Clare didn't want to push the idea. Instead she walked forward into his house, which had already become familiar after one visit. "We're here!" Eli yelled. Suddenly there were noises of people coming down the steps. Adam was blushing.

"You were in my _room?" _Eli asked, half amused.

Adam just resumed blushing and walked down.

XXXXXXXXXX

They decided to go see a movie. Eli had grunted when the girls picked out a romantic comedy. Adam, however, tried to act like he didn't care about the choice of movie.

Within the first thirty minutes of the movie Adam and Fiona had started kissing. Eli looked over at Clare and rolled his eyes.

After ten more minutes Clare and Eli really couldn't take it anymore. "You want to go somewhere else?" Eli whispered very quietly in Clare's ear. She felt goosebumps where his breath had hit her skin and she nodded hastily.

"Yeah, sure."

They got up and walked out of the movie theater.

"That was torture!" He said as soon as they walked out.

"I didn't sit next to them," Clare bragged.

"I was talking about the movie," Eli said and Clare smacked him.

"That movie was sweet!"

"Clare, do I look like the type of person who thinks chick flicks are _sweet_?"

They reached some chairs and a table outside of the theater. Eli motioned for them to sit down.

"That's why you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover!" Clare said back.

"Yeah, Clare. Under all this black I'm really a sensitive guy who likes watching teenagers thinking they've found their 'one' and sucking each others faces off."

Clare giggled and shrugged. "Maybe."

"I don't think you know me well enough."

Clare laughed. She blushed at Eli's presence. It was strange, but when he made her laugh, it made her nervous around him. It made her realize even more that she liked him.

Clare's nervousness was making him crazy. It meant that she liked him, right? To any other person, it would be obvious that she liked him, but to him, he couldn't tell. Eli wanted to lean over and kiss her right now, but a lot of things stopped him. For one thing, if she didn't like him, then it would ruin their relationships as friends. Another reason was that if they were dating, Clare would be ten times more nervous in the play. And lastly, Eli was saving their first kiss.

Eli had thought out a plan. Eventually, he and Clare would have to practice their kissing scenes. When they did, Eli was going to fake kiss her, teasing her. Then, on the third night of the play, he would kiss her.

It seemed like a perfect plan to Eli, just _so _hard to go through with. If all Eli could think about was getting her to kiss him, then how was he going to withstand another few months? Eli could tell it was going to be torture.

"Great," Clare said, breaking Eli's thoughts.

"What?"

"I need to be home. Like, now."

"Oh, come on. Sorry about that. Will you get in trouble?" Eli asked.

As they walked through the door Clare told him that her parents would probably not even notice her being forty minutes late.

And, they didn't Clare went into her house uncared about. Her parents were too busy screaming the socks off each other.

**I am so mean! It took me way too long to update, and this chapter isn't even worth it. It was so short, like 1400 words. In your reviews (if you even are reviewing, given how mean I was) please tell me that you hate how little I update. It will motivate me!**

**What did you like about the chapter? What didn't you? Tell me, PLEASE.**

**(Sorry, again, for the very late update.)**


	7. Rocky Horror Is My Thing

**Hey guys! This is really late like the last chapter, I know, I'm horrible. **

**I think I need to make a list of all the drama going on in this story, I'm starting to forget. Here it goes:**

**Chloe (Emma's annoying Eli-obsessed friend.)**

**Goldsworthy/Edwards "family hatred", as Claudia Montague put it :)**

**Eli's plan to kiss Clare. **

**Is that it? I don't know, whatever. You want your chapter already!**

**Clareandeliforever: Here's a shout out, you were my first reviewer! Thanks!**

***No Setting***

It was a Monday. For most teenagers, that meant the end of the weekend. No more sleeping in for five days. It meant that you couldn't hang out with your friends until you finished your homework. It meant learning. It meant picking up your little brother from soccer.

But for Eli and Clare, it meant that they would see each other.

Eli was looking forward to Monday the whole weekend. He wanted to see Clare badly enough to not care about the whole, "no school" thing. His eyes ached from not being able to see that perfect shade of blue, his ears throbbed from not hearing that beautiful voice, his lips hurt from biting on them with the anticipation. The wait was agonizing. It was too strange, and Eli was very confused by these feelings.

But for Clare, it took her a while to realize that Monday was what she had been waiting for. During the weekend, Clare would sometimes stop and wonder if something was missing. She missed Eli. She just didn't come to that conclusion until the morning of Monday, when she woke up before her alarm rang.

It was excitement.

Have you ever had a really special day of school, where something very cool is about to happen, and you woke up before the alarm even rang? Maybe it was the first or last day of school. Well, this is what happened to Clare. Her body and mind knew that she would have to get up at a certain time the next day, so it triggered her body into waking up, because she was excited for the day.

Long story short, Eli and Clare missed each other. A lot.

***Mrs. Dawes' Classroom***

"Class, get together with your partners and work on a writing assignment stating your opinions on uniforms," Mrs. Dawes said. "And remember: I will be keeping an eye on you." She looked over at Eli and Clare, who blushed. Eli smirked.

The class became noisy as the students started writing. Eli turned around in his seat, looking at Clare.

"i don't think it would be a good idea," he said. "I like the idea of people expressing themselves through clothes."

Clare smiled. "Says the guy who only wears black."

"I don't _only _wear black."

Clare raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? What other colors do you wear, besides grey?"

Eli put his hands on his chin as if to ponder her question. "Well I have some white things...and I think I have a red t-shirt." Eli was actually lying about this, but Clare couldn't tell. She blushed at the thought of Eli with a red t-shirt on. From her imagination, he looked _really _good. It's probably the fact that she never saw him in it. If he wore red all the time, then he wouldn't look especially good in the color. But, since all he ever wore was black, the thought was intimidating.

"We should get to work," Clare mumbled, head down. Eli smirked. He realized that he needed to buy a red shirt.

***Lunchtime!***

After Eli bought lunch, he thought about sitting in the lunchroom. He looked around and saw clique, after clique, after clique. Then he decided that it would be a better idea to sit outside, like always.

Outside, it was nice. There was a small chatter from people sitting at other tables, and there was a nice breeze outside stating the fact that it was still fall. Eli headed over to a vacant table.

Within minutes Adam, accompanied by Clare, walked over to the table Eli was at. They both sat down.

"What's up?" Adam said as he sat down. Clare thought he looked cute (In a little boy kind of way, not an Eli kind of way) sipping his juice and staring over at Fiona Coyne's table, who gave him a flirting wave. He blushed and waved over-excitedly, almost falling off the bench. The other two started laughing.

"Smooth," Eli said between laughs.

"Shut up!" Adam yelled, his face as red as Clare's when she's around Eli. Yet, he was also laughing now. As was Fiona, from her table.

It was funny.

***Rehearsal, yet again. This schedule is getting boring. Maybe we should switch it up a bit.***

"Today, ladies and gentlemen," Declan started, we are going to practice a full scene. With our stars of the show, Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards."

They went up on stage, and Clare wasn't blushing anymore. It was just something about the stage, that made her not nervous. Maybe it was the fact that you couldn't see the audience because of the bright lights, but it was more like there was a calling of her coming from the stage. She just felt _right_ standing there. Her senses strengthened and she was paying more attention to what Declan was saying.

"And this is the scene we will be performing..." Declan said. Eli wasn't really paying as much attention because they were performing one of the kissing scenes. He wasn't paying attention to the lines of the words, he was paying attention to his actions. With each sentence that he said, he took another step towards her. Clare wasn't as nervous as before; she had practiced this scene. Her cheeks were a little red, but her words were almost perfect.

Eli took one more step. They were a foot away from each other now. "Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged."

Clare looked up at Eli, her lips parted in an 'o' shape. "Then have my lips the sin that they have took."

Eli leaned towards her. He put his hands on either side of her face and put his face behind it. They were inches apart, and the cast in the audience couldn't tell that they weren't kissing. Their parted lips were hidden by Eli's hands. Clare blushed. A lot. All she could see were Eli's really, _really_ green eyes. And he didn't lean forward to close that tiny space-he just smirked.

And then he backed away.

Clare's eyes widened as she just stared. Staring was all she was doing. Eli stared back. There was a smirk on his face, but it was half a smirk. He was just thinking about how hard it was for him to not lean forward a tiny bit more and kiss her. Her eyes just had to be that blue.

A wolf whistle brought the two to life.

"Oh!" Clare exclaimed. She realized that she had another line.

"Y-you k-k-kiss b-by the b-book." Clare stuttered.

"Okay. Stop," Declan said. "We'll practice tomorrow."

***Next Week, on Monday (What? I said I would switch it up)***

"Discuss your idol with your English partners," Mrs. Dawes said. Her assignments didn't seem to be very hard.

"Harold Chasen," Eli joked.

"Who?" Clare asked.

Eli's smile disappeared. "Are you serious?"

Clare shrugged. "Who's Harold Chasen?"

"You're kidding, right? Harold and Maude?"

Clare shook her head.

"God, Clare. It's a movie. Are you sure you've never heard of it?"

Clare smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. What's so great about it?"

Eli rolled his eyes. "If you saw it, you probably would find it disturbing. But that movie is so _me._"

"Why did you say that Harold was your idol?"

"Because he drives a hearse."

"Really? I thought that was your idea. Way to not be original," Clare said.

"No, I was already planning on getting a hearse before I saw this movie. But anyway, Harold is obsessed with death and he fakes his own suicides. Like, constantly. I'm pretty sure the movie starts out with him pretending to hang himself."

"Sounds just like you."

"And then at the end-"

"Eli, aren't you planning on showing me this movie?"

"Yeah."

"Then don't tell me what happens!"

Eli slumped down in his seat. "Fine," he smirked.

"What other crazy movies have you seen?" Clare asked.

"I'm going to yell at you if you don't know what this is," Eli started.

"Okay..."

"The Rocky Horror Picture show."

Clare didn't move. She obviously had never heard of it.

"Are you going to yell at me?" She said quietly, yet she was still smiling.

"How could you have never heard of the Rocky Horror Picture Show?" Eli half-yelled.

"Sorry! I just wasn't brought up in a house where we watched things like that."

"No, Rocky Horror is nothing like anything else. It's a terrible movie, but it's a classic. It's a musical with the craziest songs. Really, you need to see that. Forget Harold and Maude, Rocky Horror keeps you awake."

"Where do I buy it?" Clare asked.

"Buy it? No. We're seeing it in theaters."

"Huh? It's a new movie?"

"No. It was made in 1975."

"Then how-"

"A lot of small, really awesome movie theaters do midnight showings every week where everyone throws rice and yells stuff at the screen. I've gone, like ten times. It's no fun going without someone, and I didn't really have a lot of friends to go with, but I made one of the few I had go with me."

Clare nodded. "So when are we going?"

"How's this week on Friday, midnight?"

"Sure," Clare said sarcastically, "My parents will totally let me go to that."

"Tell them you're sleeping over Alli's house or something. Come on Clare, I really want to see this with you." 

Clare blushed. "Fine, I'll go."

"Why do I make you so nervous?" Eli asked.

"Why do I make you so smug?"

"Hey, that's natural."

"Well then maybe my nervousness is natural.

"Oh, and by the way Clare, we're going to have to use my fake ID to get into the movie."

***The Rocky Horror Picture Show***

"These people are staring at me," Clare whispered as they were waiting to go into the theater.

"That's because you don't fit in," Eli answered.

"That's unusual for me."

"Well, these people are all cool. I mean, you're not uncool- I just mean-ugh."

"I know what you mean," Clare giggled.

Everyone there looked like nerds-but cool nerds- or goth/scene, or like they couldn't care less. It was a strange group of people.

"I really don't come here enough," Eli said.

"So what is this movie about?"

Eli smirked. "You'll see."

XXXXXXXXXX

The show was nothing like Clare expected. First of all, she only heard about one eighth of the words of the movie. Everyone was yelling their own words, using curses and even more inappropriate references to make fun of the movie. Second of all, she got rice in her hair from people throwing things behind her. Lastly, the movie was _very _strange. It had no real plot line.

The movie was about Brad and Janet, who just got engaged, going to visit Dr. Scott or someone. The first song is "Dammit Janet," which Brad sings to Janet when he asks her to marry him. When they go to visit Dr. Scott, they get caught in the rain and decide to go to a castle to use the phone. "There's a Light(Over at the Frankenstein Place)" They sing that song when they are about to go into the castle. Then, a weird humpbacked guy named Riff Raff, the "Handyman," opens the door and sings and dances to "Time Warp," a dance, with Magenta, the maid, and Columbia, some random girl in the house. All of the nicely dressed transvestites dance, too. (There was a party going on.) Everything goes downhill from there and Frank-N-Furter. He's "just a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania." That's from the song "Sweet Transvestite."

"Yeah, I'm never doing that again," Clare said.

**You can declare me the meanest person in the world! It's been almost two weeks and I haven't updated _anything_. Wow, I'm a jerk. At least it was 2000 words, right?**

**Go watch Harold and Maude! It's so cute and my mom pointed out the connection between Harold and Eli.**

**I saw Rocky Horror in theaters, and regretted it. I am not doing that again for a long time. But, if you haven't seen it, then you should. **

**Please review! I will try to write faster now. I can't promise, because procrastinating is my nature, but don't hate me for it.**


	8. Enchante

**Wuzzup? I think I need to make a date for updating every week. Maybe Thursday? I don't know.**

**Thanks for the reviews last chapter! ClareandEliforever: You get another shout out, because you were (again) the first reviewer!**

***Sunday, the Edwards Residence***

The radio was on in the living room. Specifically, Mr. Goldsworthy's station.

_Hmm, I wonder why..._, Clare thought sarcastically.

A Metallica song ended and Bullfrog came on. He said some stuff about the song.

Then, _"This is dedicated to Randall Edwards. 10 things for Non-Christians to do in Church."_

Clare's dad shut the radio off by throwing it against the wall when Bullfrog said, _"__Toss around a giant beach ball before service, like at Grateful Dead concerts."_

"That's it!" he yelled. "I want to meet this-" Mr. Edwards noticed Clare came downstairs.

"Oh, hi Clare," he said. He looked around and pointed to the broken radio. "I'm going to go clean that up."

Clare rolled her eyes. She went to the refrigerator and got out milk. Then, she dropped the milk on the floor.

"You okay?" Her dad yelled from the living room.

"Y-yeah." She stared forward and walked towards her father. "Did you say that you wanted to meet Mr. Golds- I mean Bullfrog?"

"Yes. I need to find a way to speak to him somehow." His head shot up from the floor. "I know!" Clare was scared. "We should have his family over for dinner!"

"No!" Clare yelled. Her dad looked at her strange. "I mean- it would cause such a huge fight-maybe you should just forgive and forget?"

***Monday Stage Rehearsal* **

It wasn't Clare and Eli's scene. Some other people were practicing up on stage. Clare and Eli were talking backstage, waiting for their next scene.

"You're kidding," Eli said.

"I'm serious! He really wants to have dinner with your family!"

"How is that going to help?"

"I really have no idea." Clare put her face in her hands.

"This is going to be fun," Eli scoffed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Clare's parents decided to call the Goldsworthys that night. Mr. Goldsworthy agreed to the get together right away, but the only date they had was two weeks in the future. Mr. Edwards was ready for anything. Eli's sister got out of it because she had a Bat Mitzvah to go to.

***The Friday After The Next Friday (It is now October 22nd)* **

"Good Morrow, cousin," Some kid named Mike said. He was playing Benvolio. Clare wasn't in this scene.

"Is the day so young?" Eli answered quietly, but enough for the crowd to hear.

"But new struck..." the guy looked at his script. "Nine," he finished.

Eli refrained from rolling his eyes. He didn't want to be conceited- but this guy was really _bad._ Did that sound conceited?

After a while they were done for the day. It was 4:30. Eli and Clare walked out together.

"Ready for the big dinner tonight?"

"Honestly, no," Clare answered.

Eli smirked. "Want me to drive you home? And drop you off two blocks away from your house so your mom doesn't notice a hearse?" She giggled.

"Yeah, thanks."

XXXXXXXXXX

Clare put on a white blouse, and pulled a black skirt over it. It went above her knee, so she put on white leggings. She sighed and went downstairs, putting a black headband in her hair.

"Tell me again why we're dressing up for people that you hate," Clare asked her mom, who was standing in the kitchen wearing her new black dress, with pearls around her neck.

"You father thinks it will make them feel inferior."

"Did he ever think that they might dress up too?"

Clare's mother stayed firm and looked annoyed. She got even stiffer when her husband came down the stairs in a suit.

"Randall, is this even necessary?"

Clare silently agreed with her mother.

"Change of plans," Clare's father disregarded his wife's words, "We're going out to eat. The Goldsworthys want to eat at Little Miss Steaks."

The car ride was long. Clare felt sort of lonely in the backseat. Her parents never drove in the same car anymore, so she was always sitting next to one of her parents in the front seat. She was actually pretty surprised that her mom didn't ask Clare to sit in the front while she sat in the back. When they arrived at the restaurant, Clare got nervous. They stepped out and got a table. The Goldsworthys weren't there yet.

Clare found herself tapping her finger on the salad plate, waiting. She was wondering if they would ever show up when they stepped through the door.

Clare had never seen Eli's parents, and she almost laughed when she saw them. It was hard to describe them. They looked...American? But that was a stereotype.

Her parents stood up, so she did too. Her father grimly shook hands with the smiling Mr. Goldsworthy. Eli stood behind them, and he winked at Clare, who blushed for a brief moment. He walked up and picked up her hand. "Enchante," he said, kissing her hand while looking straight into Clare's eyes. She blushed for more than a brief second this time. He was smirking. Then she realized that that line was from Rocky Horror...

"Eli, really?" She whispered. Their parents weren't looking.

He shrugged. "I like overdoing things."

"I can see that."

They sat down. Eli and Clare ended up sitting across from each other.

"So, Randall," Bullfrog spoke.

"It's Mr. Edwards." Clare's dad gridded his teeth.

"What exactly do you do?"

Eli kicked Clare's feet under the table. Clare looked over at him, but he wasn't looking back; he seemed to be engrossed in what her dad was saying. She kicked him back, playing the same game by looking away.

In a few seconds they were kicking each other constantly- it was almost footsies.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eli's parents were the type to brag. But not in a good way.

"You know, our son is playing the lead in his school's play. What is it called, uh, what is it Eli?"

Eli looked at Clare.

"That's funny," Clare's mom said. "Clare is also playing the lead in Romeo and Juliet."

"That's the one," Mr. Goldsworthy said.

"No it's not," Eli said.

How could they not think of this? How were they supposed to pretend not to know each other when they were in a play together?

"I'm in a different play. There are two in our school," Eli said.

"Huh. I thought you said you were in this Rome and Julia one."

"Romeo and Juliet," Eli corrected quickly.

Clare's parents looked at Eli and Clare suspiciously the rest of the dinner, but Eli's parents forgot about the conversation.

"Now, I would like to end this feud," Mr. Goldsworthy said after they were done eating. "But you seem to want to keep it going."

Clare's dad glared at Eli's dad. "We'll see," he grumbled.

And then they left.

On the way home, Clare's parents didn't confront her about the whole play incident. Instead, her father was talking about the Goldsworthys.

"I had to refrain myself from laughing when I saw him," Mr. Edwards said. "And their son-"

Clare stiffened.

"-why was he dressed in all black?"

Clare couldn't help from butting in. "Maybe he just likes the color," she blurted out. Now it was her mom's turn to stiffen. She wasn't really in with the whole, 'hate the Goldsworthys' thing, but she was curious about the fact that Eli was in a 'different' play than Clare was.

They arrived at home. Clare unclasped her seat buckle and quickly opened the door. She got out her keys and ran to open the door telling her parents, "I'm just cold." the truth was she wanted to escape any words from her parents about why she was acting so strange. Clare put her keys in the door and opened it. She left it a crack open and ran upstairs, going to take a long shower.

How could they have been so stupid as to not remember that they were in a play together? Clare realized that if her dad would not come to the show, at least her mom would. What is she going to say when she sees Clare and Eli...kiss? Well, it was going to be a fake kiss, Clare thought, but still. Her mom would definitely question that.

Clare got out of the shower and practically jumped in bed after she put on her pajamas.

**I'm wondering if you guys hate me. I'm sorry! I need to update more...I will try to update the same time every week. I had a project on Thursday, so that took time.**

**And this chapter is only 1400 words. I call that short. Please review!**

**BTW- I changed my name, it is now no longer "EliPassedHisFrenchExam"**

**review please!**


	9. Weird Time For Halloween

**Okay, so in some week that I didn't show to you, Clare and Adam became friends. So now they are a group of friends.**

**I feel weird writing a Halloween themed chapter on Christmas Eve/Christmas, but I don't think you would want me to skip Halloween and pretend it never happened.**

***Friday, October 29th—Rehearsal***

They were getting pretty good-the cast, that is- after only about one and a half months. Well, they only had one and a half months left, so they had better been good.

The scenery and props were about seventy five percent done. Clare was terrified of having to go up on a "balcony" which was really just a ladder. But, she was an actress, so she had to do whatever the director told her to do.

Eli and Clare still hadn't kissed yet. Clare hyperventilated every time Eli faked the kiss and got really close to her. She had, although, skilled the act of not being nervous. She and Eli were good friends, and according to her, that was all they ever were going to be.

Friends.

Rehearsal ended and Clare and Eli (obviously) walked out together.

"So, Clare, what are you doing this fine Halloween weekend?"

"Uhh...nothing?"

"Really?" Eli asked.

"Well, I'm probably having a sleepover with Alli or something."

"Clare, I'm scared to ask this question, but when was the last time you trick or treated ?"

"Eli, I am not going trick or treating!"

"I never said that." Eli answered. "I just want to know."

"Um, I think it was when I was twelve."

Eli slapped his forehead. "You really missed out, Clare. Nice."

"Well what do you expect me to do, trick or treat at this age?"

"Clare, I know college kids who go trick or treating."

"I am not going," Clare insisted.

"Fine, fine," Eli put his hands up in surrender. "But I know something else we could do," he said, and Clare thought that his smirk meant no good.

***October 30th—6:00 pm**

Clare sat at her desk mindlessly drumming her fingers across the keyboard. She wasn't exactly popular; it was normal for her to have nothing to do on a Saturday night. But the night before Halloween? It was a violation that a teenage girl was sitting at home on this day.

Clare heard a tap on her window. She didn't pay attention to it. She heard another tap and went over to her window.

Out on the ground under her window was Eli.

Clare opened her window and opened her mouth to say something, but was silenced.

Eli yelled up to Clare's window, smirking, holding his hand out to her. "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun-"

Eli shut up when Clare threw a stuffed animal onto his head.

"Eli! What are you doing here?" Clare whispered. She didn't want her parents to hear her-or Eli for that matter.

"I'm here to show you some Halloween spirit!" Eli answered, not lowering his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm bringing you to a haunted barn!"

Clare's face went pale. "Uh, no you're not."

"C'mon, Clare, it'll be fun!"

"I am not having this discussion from up here," Clare said, and closed her window. Eli waited by his car.

Clare quickly replaced her pajamas with a sweatshirt and jeans and ran downstairs, slipping her flats on. It was a little cold outside, but it wasn't dark yet.

Eli ran up to her. "Clare, please? I can't miss one this year! They're really fun and they really get you in the Halloween spirit."

Seeing Eli look like a little kid on Christmas about this made Clare say yes. Before she knew it she was standing in line waiting to buy tickets to this thing.

*****IMPORTANT A/N: IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT ELI AND CLARE DID AT THE HAUNTED BARN, READ MY OTHER STORY "THAT HEARSE IS NOT A DECORATION." THE NEXT THING THAT I WRITE WILL TAKE PLACE OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THAT STORY(I suggest you read it now and finish this chapter after)*****

Clare actually had a lot of fun. Although she was terrified, she couldn't help but want to go to it next year.

Eli and Clare laughed their way over to the hearse and got in, Eli driving towards Clare's house.

"We should take Adam next year," Clare said.

'What, you don't like going just with me?" Eli said, glancing over at her. Clare blushed.

"I just think Adam would love it. And he wouldn't scream as much as me."

"I think he would," Eli answered.

***October 31st—Halloween!(3 pm)***

Eli's phone buzzed. He had been sitting on his bed, not really doing anything. He picked up his phone and looked at the text from Adam.

_Meeting at the dot!_

_-Adam_

Eli was confused. Nevertheless, he still got in his hearse and drove towards the Dot.

The Dot wasn't very packed considering the holiday; Eli closed the door of his car and got out.

When Eli walked in the Dot he noticed Clare sitting at a table by herself. He suddenly felt his heart speed up at the sight of her face- but then it sped down, because Eli Goldsworthy does not get nervous.

He can control that.

Eli sat down opposite Clare.

"You get Adam's message too?" Eli asked.

"Yep," Clare said as she avoided Eli's eyes. She didn't have anything to hide or something like that- it was just a sunny day, and they were sitting by the window, and Eli's eyes looked particularly green.

"What do you think he wanted us to talk about?"

Clare shrugged.

Adam walked in and saw his friends sitting at a booth. He walked over.

"Happy Halloween!" He said to the both of them.

"Hi," They said, looking at each other.

Adam sat down beside Eli. "Okay, so I called you two here because-"

"You didn't call us, you texted us," Eli corrected. Adam glared at him for a moment. "What?" Eli argued. Adam still glared at him. "I was just stating the truth!"

"Anyway," Clare broke in, "can you tell us why?"

"Okay," Adam started. "Well, there's this Halloween party tonight-"

"It must be Fiona Coyne's," Eli interrupted.

"Can you stop interrupting!" Adam half-yelled. Eli put his hands up in surrender.

"_Anyway,_" Adam started for the 500th time, "I want to go to this party. Can you two come with me? I don't want to go alone."

"Not to but in," Clare said, "But is the party Fiona Coyne's?"

"Well...Yes," Adam gave in.

"Then what were you mad at me for?" Eli said.

"For interrupting!" Adam replied.

"C'mon, that's stupid."

"No! Maybe you should have said, 'Excuse me!'"

"I wasn't even talking to you! Maybe I was talking to Clare!"

"That's still interrupti-"

"Guys!" Clare yelled. They looked over. As fun as it was to watch these two bicker like an old married couple, she had to go.

"Eli, I know for a fact you have nothing to do tonight-" Adam said calmly.

"Wow, stalk much?"

"GUYS!"

This time they shut up. Clare looked at Adam. "Adam, we can go. Eli will pick both of us up and we'll go to the party. It's settled. Wait, is it a costume party?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you."

"Then I have to go and find a costume," Clare said. "Bye, and you two behave while I'm gone."

XXXXXXXXXX

Clare walked out of the Dot and started home. She called up Alli.

"Hello?"

"Hi Alli, it's Clare."

"Clare, I know. It says your name on my phone."

"Are you going to Fiona Coyne's party tonight?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Want to go costume shopping with me?" 

"Sorry, Clare-I already have a costume...I could help you shop, if you want!"

Clare sighed. "No, that's okay. See you later."

"Bye Clare!" And they hung up.

Clare ran the rest of the way home. She approached her house and went up to her room. She attacked her closet for anything mildly good- she even searched her computer for ideas on homemade costumes. None of them seemed _her_. And she didn't want to be something scary or grotesque- she saw a homemade zombie costume and almost puked.

Clare looked around her room for ideas. She looked at the bookshelf. There was a deck of cards on it. She picked it up. It said, '_Tarot Cards.'_

Clare remembered when she was younger her dad bought her strange gifts, and that was one of them.

_A fortune teller..._Clare thought.

Clare rummaged through her closet looking for anything that seemed even mildly gypsy-like.

Nada.

Clare resulted in looking in her sister's closet. She found a sparkly pink blouse..._that might look good, _she thought.

Yet, her sister definitely would not have any long skirts, let alone peasant skirts. No, that would have to be from Clare's wardrobe.

Clare went back in her room and looked through her skirts...none of them seemed peasant-like enough. Clare saw a light green sundress that looked good- she decided on wearing it under the blouse.

Now, scarfs. The word "scarf" was practically how you described a fortune teller. Clare picked up a pink scarf and also a white one.

Clare's outfit was pretty much finished. Clare smiled and got her phone out.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Clare, you look really pretty," Alli said.

"Alli, stop."

"No, seriously."

Alli had already bought her costume, but that didn't mean that the girls couldn't get ready together. Alli also brought Jenna; she was the one who went shopping with Alli.

Alli was Tinkerbell, except with a shorter dress than the actual Tinkerbell wore...which is hard to believe. She had her hair in a bun and wore wings and green heels, unlike Tinkerbell who wears flats.

Jenna had a retro flapper dress. It was cute. She had a boa, a flower headband that went around her head, and fishnets with stilettos.

Clare was a sight to see. Her dress was under her blouse, but you couldn't tell because she wrapped a scarf around her waist. She debated on wearing a scarf around her head, but she decided not to.

Alli curled Clare's hair to perfection, it was very pretty. She also forced Clare to wear a little more makeup then usual, so her face was highlighted. Clare didn't have nearly as much makeup as Alli, but it still was a lot.

The clock ticked to eight. The party would be ending at two, but there was no way that Clare or Alli's parents would let them stay out that long on a school night- they had to each be home by twelve.

Drew came to pick Alli up and he dropped Adam off. Kc was with Drew and Jenna went with them.

"You look nice, Clare," Adam said.

Clare would have blushed, but she was busy staring.

"Adam, would you mind taking that mask off? You're freaking me out."

Adam took off his Michael Myers mask. Clare laughed.

"What?"

Suddenly Clare was lying on the floor (not literally) laughing her head off.

"What?" Adam yelled.

"Oh gosh..." Clare said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Make sure you don't wear that in front of Eli."

And then she burst out laughing again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eli stopped staring after one and a half seconds. Clare didn't notice, right? She just looked so good...

_Okay, Eli. Stop,_ He told himself.

Eli cleared his throat. "Where's Adam?" He asked.

Clare was laughing. "He's in the house-" *laugh* "-I came here to warn you-" *laugh* "-about his costume-" *laughs hysterically.*

"What do you mean?"

"Let me cut it straight to you," Clare said, trying to keep a straight face. "He's the guy from Halloween.

Eli stiffened. No, he didn't just become pale, that was just the lighting! (Maybe.)

"That's okay," Eli said. "I'm over that stupid fear anyway." Eli's expression didn't look very convincing.

Adam came out and Eli kept calm. Adam wasn't wearing his mask yet.

"You didn't tell him, right?" Eli whispered.

"What? About your 'stupid fear?' No, he was confused about why I said don't wear the mask in front of you."

"Oh, good," Eli sighed. Adam came in the car. He scooted in beside Clare, who was next to Eli.

"What are you supposed to be?" Adam asked Eli as they drove off.

Eli was wearing a purple and black striped shirt with a black jacket and skinny jeans; he was also wearing a black fedora.

"I'm someone besides me," Eli said. "Come on, would I really wear a purple shirt or a hat like this?"

"Way to have no Halloween spirit," Adam said.

"Okay, Adam, then I'm the person getting my fortune from Clare. How's that?"

"I will not be involved in this," Clare said.

"Aww, you two are matching? How cute," Adam said.

Clare blushed and hit Adam while Eli smirked and kept his eyes on the road.

Then Eli said, "If we were matching, which we aren't, we could have done better than this. Like, Romeo and Juliet or something."

Clare laughed. "No way," she said.

"Why not?" Eli smirked.

Adam hit his head on the window. "It's just endless flirting," he groaned.

XXXXXXXXXX

The apartment was big. It seemed expensive. It was classy. These were the words from the three friends who stared looking up at it.

They went up to Fiona's apartment. They were curious about how big an apartment could be, big enough to hold most of the students of Degrassi?

The three were astonished when they got off the elevator. The apartment seemed to take up the whole floor. It was decorated with lights and smoke on the ground and fake bats and blood and a whole lot of other cool stuff. (Run-on sentence)

There were tons of people in the apartment. There were tables with a lot of food and punch bowls.

"You'd like to live here, Eli, wouldn't you?" Adam asked, still in awe.

"Yeah," Eli said, rolling his eyes, "Lots of things relating to death."

Fiona came through the crowd. "Hey Adam!" She said.

Adam looked her up and down. "You look...amazing," he said. He then blushed. Fiona was wearing a black dress that sort of looked like spiderwebs.

"Thanks Adam!" She said, a huge smile on her face. She seemed a little out of it...Adam noticed the champagne glass in her hand. He took it out of her hand and she pouted.

They walked through the mist and out into what looked like a living room. It was dark with colorful lights illuminating the scene. The music was blasting. There were a bunch of teenagers sitting on the couch and plenty of them dancing and talking(more like screaming) around the couch and through the hallways. The costumes were cool to look at. Clare noticed Alli and Drew in a corner.

Eli turned to Clare, his hands in his pockets. "Remind me why we came here," he told her.

"Because our friend wanted us to," she said. "You wouldn't do something nice for a good friend?"

"Depends what friend," Eli smirked.

Clare didn't pay attention to his last sentence. "Adam's a really good friend of yours, though."

"I know, but this isn't really my scene."

Clare rolled her eyes. She seated herself on a tall chair that was next to a table. "Then what is your scene?"

"I'd actually much rather go trick or treating right now."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You're Eli, the sixteen year old who's really 10 inside," she giggled.

"That's me," Eli said as he sat opposite her. Clare noticed the food table next to her and got a drink of punch. She took a sip and winced at the taste. Then she started coughing.

"That's alcohol."

"Let me try," Eli said. Clare gave him the cup. Eli took a sip and couldn't help but smirk at the fact that Clare's _lips_ were on the cup.

"Yeah, that's alcohol," Eli said as he tried to hand the cup back to her.

"I just said that! And I don't want the cup back, it's alcohol."

"Suit yourself," Eli took another sip.

"Don't drink that!"

"Clare, it's just a little...what is it?"

"Exactly, Eli. That's why you shouldn't drink it."

"Fine." Eli put the cup down.

Clare smiled. "I'm glad I'm making a good impression on you."

"Yes, you are _definitely_ making a good impression on me."

**You don't understand how sorry I am about this terribly late update. I feel terrible. Well, at least this chapter was almost 3,000 words. It's like, 6,000+ words counting "That Hearse Is Not A Decoration." I actually made that around Halloween and I worked it into this. Is this long enough? Too short? I don't know.**

**But I have an excuse for the late update! Ha! I have been taking care of my cousins incredibly cute puppy, Oliver. He is a lot of work, and he made me realize I don't want a dog just yet. My cousins were on vacation in Canada and I told them to get me an autograph if they saw Munro Chambers. He said, "I'll tell him that 'I have a cousin who hates you so much.'" They actually think Munro is ugly. Can you believe that? Well, they are boys.**

**Review pretty please! I realized that the chapter with most reviews was the one where I said, "Say anything, just review!"**

**So, with pretty please with chocolate cream pie on top?**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOUS GUYS!**


	10. Party For Eighth Graders

**A/N: Here's what the story is about! The Play!**

***November 12th***

"Okay, guys, we have exactly one month and...something days to practice for this play!" Declan exclaimed at the beginning of rehearsal. Then he turned around. "Jess, what's the date of this play again?" he whispered.

Eli rolled his eyes. "We have a great director, don't we?"

"Hey! I like him."

"Oh really, Clare? You like him? That explains your neck incident," Eli said, smirking.

Clare punched him lightly. "Shut up," she said, although she was blushing. She didn't like Declan, but she had in the past...

"We are going to start at Act 2, Scene 2 today," Declan continued.

"Oh gosh..." Clare said.

"Don't worry, Clare. If you fall I'll catch you."

"How can you catch me if you're standing in front of the balcony?"

"True. Then I'll try to catch you and fail."

"Thanks for reassuring me."

The cast was on the stage. The people who weren't going to be in this scene went behind the curtains and the stage crew brought out the set. Clare walked behind the "balcony." She paused and took a deep breath, glancing at Eli. He made a face as if to say, '_go up already!'_ She slowly climbed the ladder, wondering how she was going to do it during the show, because she was going to be wearing a dress.

Once she was settled and very uncomfortable, she closed the shades in front of her.

"He jests at scars that never felt a wound," Eli said, walking out from behind the curtain. Clare opened her shades that were on the set that was supposed to be a balcony, showing herself and looking down at Eli. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

Clare suddenly had the urge to throw something down onto his head. She remembered the night before Halloween and resisted the urge to laugh.

She enjoyed looking down at Eli who was practically serenading her- except for the fact that he wasn't singing. _I wonder what Eli's singing voice sounds like..._,she thought as she zoned out. She came back to Earth and realized Eli only had a couple lines left. He really was a dork for remembering that whole part in a little more than a month without any mistakes.

"See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" Eli said.

"Ay me!" Clare felt as if she had done this scene way too many times. Declan was probably just making them do it over and over again because he wanted her to get used to standing on the ladder and not being nervous enough to forget her lines.

After they did that scene, Clare carefully came down. Adam, who was part of the stage crew, took away the set with some other stage crew dude.

"What we're doing next is-" Declan started, "-the last scene. Act 5, scene 3."

This was the depressing part of the play. Clare and Eli had barley practiced this part.

"We need Paris, Page, Romeo, Balthasar, Friar Lawrence, Juliet, the three watchmans, the prince, Capulet, Lady Capulet, and Montauge," Declan read from his script.

They set up the set (that was redundant) and Paris came on stage with his servant, which was called a page. Paris was being played by a girl; not many boys auditioned for this play. But, she was still a good actress.

The Page held plastic flowers and a torch that wasn't lit. Clare presumed they had not gotten the props for this scene yet.

"Give me thy torch, boy: hence, and stand aloof," Paris said. They acted for a while. After about two minutes, Romeo(Eli) and Balthasar came on stage.

"Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron," Eli said. He spoke for a solid minute. Then, the act went on and Eli's performance made it so _not _boring. After a while, it got intense.

"I do defy thy conjurations, and apprehend thee for a felon here," Paris said.

"Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy!" Eli said.

The play paused.

"Uhh..." Eli said.

"Yeah?" Declan responded.

"We haven't learned how to stage fight."

"Oh! Right...yeah, then I guess we'll have to practice this scene another time. It's time to go, anyways, so see you tomorrow!"

Declan left quickly and Eli walked over to Clare. They got their things together and left.

"What's up with him?" Clare asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he's stressed about how messed up his and Fiona's apartment was after the Halloween party."

"Maybe," Clare giggled.

***A couple hours earlier, at Emma's school***

School ended. Emma went over to her friend Jamie.

"Hey, are you coming to my sleepover tonight?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"Okay, see you later."

Emma's birthday was tomorrow, on Saturday. She decided to have a sleepover with her friends tonight. She went over to her locker and got her books. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. She cringed at who was standing there.

"Yes Chloe?"

"Happy almost birthday!" said the fake girl. With the social studies project finished, she never had an excuse to go over and see Emma's God of a brother. Finally, she found a way.

"Uh...thanks?"

"I was just going to say, I can make it to your party tonight."

Oh god.

"Uh..."

"You probably didn't ask me because you thought I would be busy tonight, because I'm busy all the time-"

Self centered much?

"-But I made sure I was free for tonight! So, see you later!"

Oh, god. Great. Just great. How was she going to get out of this? Emma wasn't as mean as to tell Chloe off. But she would totally ruin the party! None of her friends would be able to tell any secrets with a popular girl there. This was not good.

Emma sighed. She grabbed her friend and explained the problem on the bus ride home.

XXXXXXXXXX

Clare went to Eli's house. It was pretty normal for her to do this. She comes at least twice every week, and not once Eli's parents were home at the time.

Eli unlocked the door to find Emma and two of her friends, and one was a...guy?

"Sup, Emma?"

"Just getting ready for my party."

"You're planning on having boys sleeping over?"

"No, they're going to leave at 11."

"Okay."

Eli and Clare went upstairs.

"It's cute seeing you be all protective," Clare said. Eli rolled his eyes. "I thought you would be more of a, like, 'cool' kind of brother."

"There's no such thing when it comes to boys," Eli said, opening the door to his room. They walked in and Eli dropped his backpack on the floor. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Clare answered. "Practice?"

"Ugh," Eli groaned. "We practice too much. Wait! I know what we can do!"

"What?"

"I haven't shown you Harold and Maude yet."

"Okay..."

***A Few Hours Later***

Eli opened the door for a bunch of eighth graders. "Come in," he said. There were about seven girls coming through the doors and three boys.

"You would count exactly how many boys came in," Clare said.

"I need to make sure every one of them leaves." Eli turned to Emma. "How do your friends manage to come at the exact same time?"

"Carpooling?" she shrugged.

Emma and her friends got settled in the living room and Eli and Clare seated themselves in the kitchen.

"Aren't your parents coming home?"

"At about 3. They're at some party or concert or something."

"And they're letting your sister have a sleepover party?"

"My parents are pretty cool," Eli said. He took a soda from the fridge.

The doorbell rang. Eli got up and walked over to the door. While doing so, he asked Emma, "Who is it now?"

"Oh god," Emma said. "I was hoping..."

Eli opened the door. It was Chloe.

"Hey Eli!" She said flashing a huge smile.

"Hey, Courtney," Eli said.

"It's Chloe," she giggled.

"I don't really care," Eli said so low she couldn't hear, walking away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Eli and Clare, from their hiding spot in the kitchen, could tell that no one was having a good time at the party. It had been two hours, and the presence of Chloe was creating awkward silences in the group. They could tell Chloe was bored; she really only wanted to go to get a chance with Eli, but now that she saw Clare was here, she had no reason the be there. She couldn't just get up and leave, though. It would be suspicious. As if everyone didn't know the reason she was there.

Emma stood up. "Will you excuse me for a minute?" This was the sign that things were not natural. If everyone there was her friend, she would say, "be right back," or something like that. The tension was so thick it was palpable- and it was ruining the party.

Emma stepped into the kitchen. "Eli, you have to do something."

"What do you want me to do, kick her out of the house?"

"Uh, I don't know. Something."

"I have an idea," Clare spoke up. Emma looked at her.

"What is it?"

"Pretend the boys are leaving now. Like, say that the sleepover starts at eight and the guys were only staying until then."

"...But she's a girl, and she brought sleepover stuff."

"Say that only a certain amount of people were allowed to sleep over."

Emma considered it. "But the guys were supposed to stay another three hours!"

"Make her leave first."

Emma grinned. "Thanks Clare! You're awesome!" she said. "Eli was right about you," she added for good measure.

Eli glared at her on the way out and turned to face Clare, who was blushing, but also had her eyebrows raised.

"You were right about me?" Clare said from across the kitchen table. "And what exactly did you say?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?"

"Very much, in fact."

"When you're older, Clare."

Clare rolled her eyes and laughed.

A few minutes later, Emma came back in the room and she looked disappointed.

"What happened, Em?" Eli asked.

"The whole plan is ruined. She said she had nowhere to sleep tonight. Are you sure there's nothing else you can do?" She looked down.

Eli shrugged. "Sorry, Ems."

Unexpectedly, Emma's face brightened and she smiled slyly, looking up. "I have an idea."

"This can't be good," Eli said under his breath. "What is it?"

"Come over here." Emma motioned for Eli to come into a corner. He looked confused but went over anyway. Emma stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Eli's ear. Clare watched from a distance as Eli's eyes got wider.

"No way that's happening," he said.

"Come on! Pweese! Pretty pretty pleeeaaase?" Eli walked back over to the table. Emma jumped up and down. "Come on, Eli! Please!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty pretty please with ten thousand cherries on top?"

"I don't like cherries. No."

"Eli, for me?" She looked at him with huge puppy dog eyes and even Clare felt the need to do whatever she said.

Eli sighed. "Fine."

"Yay! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"But if this doesn't work, you are _so _getting it."

"Okay, whatever. I'm expecting you both out of the kitchen soon!" As she walked out, Emma winked at Clare, which confused her. What was the thing to get rid of Chloe? Did it have to do with her?

"What was that about?" She asked.

Eli looked down and played with the rings on his fingers. "Emma has suggested...we...in front of Chloe..."

"Eli, you're not making any sense."

"She thinks that if we kiss in front of Chloe, she'll leave."

Clare couldn't help the slight red rising on her cheeks, but her voice showed no signs of nervousness.

"Can't we just stage kiss?"

Eli looked up. "Wow, that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?"

"You and I both will never know what's going on in that brain of yours." Clare tapped the top of Eli's head as she walked over to the door. "You coming?"

"Don't we have to plan this?"

"Nah, just play along," Clare said.

Eli smirked and followed Clare out. The semi-silent group watched them as they went outside. Emma played along.

"Hey, Chloe, want to go spy on them?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

They walked over to the window and looked through it at Eli and Clare. Emma thought that the two were perfectly positioned. They were talking, but Chloe and Emma couldn't hear what they were saying. Clare mouthed something that looked like, "Okay," to Emma, and then Eli leaned forward and but his hands on either side of her face. Emma didn't know that they were faking a kiss, but she wouldn't be able to know either way.

XXXXXXXXXX

Clare and Eli walked outside. "I have to go now anyways," Clare said. "So they can't hear us through the glass, right? Because I know they're watching."

"No, they can't hear."

"So, just...kiss me. I mean, not really, but, like, ugh. The stage kiss- thingie that we do for our play-"

"Can I just do it now?"

Clare nodded. "Okay."

Eli leaned forward and Clare got dizzy at the sudden closeness. They were half an inch apart! The urge to lean forward a tiny bit more never left either of their minds; they didn't kiss.

Eli leaned back. "Think that did the trick?"

"Uh huh," Clare said, her cheeks red from something besides the cold weather.

"See you tomorrow then,"

"Yeah," Clare said. She scrunched her eyebrows and walked away. Eli watched her until she disappeared down the street.

Eli walked in the house. "Well, my GIRLFRIEND just left so I'm going to go on my laptop and sign in to Skype and wait until I see my GIRLFRIEND'S screen name so I can talk to my GIRLFRIEND and see my GIRLFRIEND'S beautiful face," he said loudly on purpose. He looked at the group of young teens who were staring at him. "Bye," he said, and ran upstairs.

Emma looked at Chloe. Her eyes were still wide. Chloe's cell phone vibrated and she grabbed it.

"Oh, my mom says it's a change of plans and I can sleep at home tonight. In fact, my house isn't far from here. I'll just walk." She grabbed all her things.

"You sure?" Emma asked, feinting disappointment.

"Yeah, see you on Monday Emma."

And with that, Chloe was out of the house.

"VICTORY!" Emma yelled. Her friends all cheered.

**A/N: 2,587 words. Does that make up for how much I suck? Really, I have no excuse for not updating this except procrastination. But, I think this was a good chapter. You tell me with a...**

**REVIEW PLEASE? Telling me how much I suck for not updating? Telling me if you like my chapter/story? If you like ice cream sundaes?**

**Just PLEASE, _please _review. I promise I will give a shout out to every single person who reviews this chapter. PROMISE. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Alvin and the Chipmunks concert

**Yes! I am updating...! This is random, but I just realized how awesome Paramore is :P They're pretty cool.**

**OH MY GOD! GLEE FANS: LISTEN UP—I'M GOING TO MEET DIANA AGRON! MAYBE! AHHHH (pm me if you wanna know how!)**

**I was just reading my old Eclare story and it was **_**so bad. **_**I mean, seriously. It sucked. This story is much better.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Degrassi or Shakespeare.**

**Shout outs:**

**TVIsMyDrug4: Be patient, it will come.**

**Clareandeliforever: you'd like to know, wouldn't you? Wait till future chapters. Thanks!**

**Smoudy97: I'm updating! Thanks!**

**Claudia Montauge: Well that was pretty much the end of Chloe. Thanks, and I'm updating!**

**PullMeIntoTheDark: GARSH! Why is everybody asking about the kiss? Haha, thanks.**

**Eclare4ever123: Well I did. And I am. Haha, thanks for reviewing!**

**LovinMunro95: Thanks, and I'm updating now!**

**MYSTERIOUSSTALKER: See, you're the person that I'm scared will stalk me down at the concert! Haha, Is this really the BEST? I don't think it is, there are better ones. But thanks anyway! It means a lot!**

**Lehcar14: Wait. (So many people are complaining about the kiss!) & Most people don't love anything about Chloe, that was pretty much the end of her. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Madam goldsworthy: thanks!**

**AlyssaRachelle: Thanks!**

**Maralita: Thanks!**

**DegrassiCat: Thanks! And they will, eventually...MAYBE.**

**Eclarefan4ever: Thanks!**

**Wedontbelong69: Thanks, and thanks! &I'm updating!**

**CrazyCloudz15: Thanks, and here I am, updating!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

***Monday, November 15th—The Dot***

"Guess what tickets I got."

"Tickets to our play?"

"No, Clare, you wouldn't be interested. I was talking to Adam. So, guess what I got tickets to!" 

"A Broadway showing of Mamma Mia?" said Adam.

"No..."

"The San Francisco Comic-Con?"

"Nope."

"An Alvin and The Chipmunks concert?"

"What the heck? No, Adam, you're a terrible guesser. Here's a hint: it's one of our favorite bands."

"Wait...you didn't get tickets to-"

"Uh huh."

Adam stood up. "No you did not!"

"Yes I did!"

Adam punched the air. "Yes! How did you manage to get them?"

"Well, I-"

"Guys!" Clare yelled.

Eli turned to her. "Yeah?"

"What did you get tickets to?"

"Dead Hand!" Adam was elated at the sound of the band's name.

"What type of hand?" she asked. The name sounded familiar.

Adam gaped. "You don't know who Dead Hand is?"

"She does," Eli said. "She's seen enough posters in my room of them. You know, Clare, _Dead Hand_?"

"Oh, yeah..." she said, sipping her soda as the guys talked about the concert. From what she heard it was going to be epic, and the music would be awesome, and they're performing a never before heard song, and how are things going with you and Clare, and ow, and shut up she's right there, and...

Wait, what? Were they just talking about her? Clare decided to act like she didn't hear it and kept looking out the window. Although, she could hear a bit of what they were whispering. Seriously, they don't admit it, but guys gossip more than girls. In a more masculine way, though.

For example; If Eli and Clare got together, Adam would say, "You asked out Clare finally? Nice, dude." Alli, however, would say, "Ohmygod, Clare I'm so happy for you! You totally deserve Eli." You see, there are separate ways for guys and girls to gossip.

The real question is, though, is it true that guys talk about girls more than girls talk about guys?

Eli cleared his throat. "So...this concert is going to be sick!"

"I've never been to a Dead Hand concert before!" Adam said.

"You haven't? Well, now you will! It's going to be awesome."

"Okay, I get it," Clare interrupted. "The concert is going to be the best night of your lives. Can I go home now?"

Eli thought about that. The best night of his life probably wouldn't be the concert- a concert is such a common thing, it's nothing special. The best night of his life would probably be the day he marries Clare...if he does marry her.

It was Eli's turn to stare off into space before Adam clapped his hands in front of Eli's face.

"Seriously, you guys, what is wrong with you two today? Wait- you didn't somehow have gotten telepathy powers and are talking to each other telepathically, right?"

Eli and Clare looked at each other, eyes raised.

"Now I'm convinced," Adam said seriously.

"This is why you're my best friend," Eli said, smirking. Then the smirk went away. "You should stop reading so many comic books."

***Friday, Rehearsal***

"Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow. We would as willingly give cure as know," some kid named Matt said. He was playing Montauge, Romeo's father.

Clare was watching from behind the stage. Eli was next to her for some time until he had to walk on after that last sentence.

He gilded on the the stage and stood there elegantly, which is strange to say for _him._

Benvolio spoke up. "See, where he comes: so please you, step aside; I'll know his grievance, or be much denied."

'That almost rhymed!' Clare heard the Eli-sounding voice in her head say.

Okay. Now she was officially crazy.

'Yeah. Crazy with love,' the voice said again. She mentally slapped herself, but she thought that the voice was kind of right...

Why the heck was she calling it a voice? She knows Eli so well that she was just thinking of what he would say after those sentences- they were her thoughts, not "a voice."

"I would thou wert so happy by thy stay," Montauge said. "To hear true shrift. Come, madam, let's away." Matt and his lady left the stage.

Clare knew all this already. She was just itching to go on stage herself, but she didn't have a part for another two scenes. It was agonizing, because Eli was up there for most of it. She wasn't friends with any other cast members, just Adam, who left early. She wasn't exactly sure why. So, she spent the next half hour bored and daydreamed about Eli for a bit.

She thought about the fact that her heart drops every times he smirks. She thought about the way he sometimes looks at her- like if he's looking down, and his eyes glance up. Those exact moments were the ones where his eyes were mesmerizing. She also thought about the closeness of their faces when they stage kissed, and how she wished Eli would lean in a little more. Honestly, it looked like he wanted to.

The time passed eventually and Eli left the stage. He went passed Clare.

"Your turn," he said in her ear, and walked away.

Technically Juliet's mother and her nurse went on stage first.

"Nurse, where's my daughter? Call her forth to me," said Lady Capulet.

"Now, by my maidenhead, at twelve year old, I bade her come. What, lamb! what, ladybird God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet!"

Clare took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the curtain.

"How Now! Who calls?"

"Your mother," said the nurse.

"Madam, I am here. What is your will?" Clare thought about how children talked to their parents when this was written. It was if their parents were kings and queens and they were servants.

"This is the matter:-Nurse, give leave awhile, we must talk in secret:-nurse, come back again; I have remember'd me, thou's hear our counsel. Thou know'st my daughter's of a pretty age."

"Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour," said the nurse.

"She's not fourteen," her mother said.

"I'll lay fourteen of my teeth,-And yet, to my teeth be it spoken, I have but four- She is not fourteen. How long is it now to Lammas-tide?"

"A fortnight and odd days."

It was strange. Her mother wanted her to get married, and she wasn't even fourteen yet! Clare pictured Eli's little sister getting married. It didn't work.

After more practicing and rehearsing, the day finally came to an end and Eli rushed Clare out.

"Why are you hurrying? Got someplace to go to?"

"I'm just excited for tonight," Eli said. "This concert is going to be epic!"

"Sure," Clare said.

"Wait- where's Adam?" Eli looked back, as if he expected Adam to run out of the building.

"He left early."

"Huh," he responded, scrunching his eyes. "That's weird. Anyway, want me to give you a ride?"

"No, I can walk home."

"Okay, see you later."

XXXXXXXXXX

Eli immediately called Adam when he went home. They were going to the concert later, Adam couldn't disappear!

He dialed Adam's number and waited. On the fifth ring, Adam picked up.

"Hello?" His voice sounded very congested and tired.

"Adam, where are you? What's wrong with your voice?"

"I'm-*cough*- sick." Adam breathed loudly and Eli heard him blow his nose.

"What? But we have to go to the concert later!"

"I'm really sick, Eli. I have bronchitis or laryngitis-*cough*- or some weird sounding virus or bacteria or something. I wasn't really listening to what the doctor said,-*cough*- I have a headache. And the radiation from the cell phone is making it worse."

"Then who am I supposed to take to the concert?"

"I don't know, your lover maybe?" Adam sneezed.

"Gesundheit," Eli said, rolling his eyes. (1)

"I have to go," Adam said. He hung up the phone.

"Great," Eli whispered to himself, closing his cell phone.

Clare was really the only person he could call to go with him, but he didn't think she would enjoy the concert.

He called her anyway.

***At the Concert***

Skinny jeans, a t-shirt with a tiny little vest.

And when Eli thinks _tiny,_ he really means tiny.

No, this wasn't Eli's outfit. It was Clare's. And Eli thought it looked pretty good.

Okay so "Pretty good" is an understatement for how he thought she looked. Doesn't matter, anyways. All that mattered was the concert.

But Eli regretted bringing her there, because she was way too big of a distraction.

They walked in to the theater. It wasn't that big, but it was not small.

The opening band was playing and it was really crowded. Clare took in the sight of it as they pushed their way through the crowd. Eli pulled on her hand as he walked forward, and Clare was staring at their hands the whole time. It was good that Eli was in front.

The noise was really loud- Clare had never been to a rock concert, so she never knew how much the noise destroys your eardrums. Eli brought them to a good spot just as Dead Hand went on.

"YOU READY FOR THIS?" The singer yelled into the microphone. A bunch of people, I including Eli, screamed.

"I SAID YOU READY FOR THIS?"

"YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! WOOOOOOOOOO!," the concert yelled.

The band started playing and Clare was actually enjoying herself. The music wasn't that bad, and it looked like Eli was having a lot of fun, so she was too. The time went by really quickly and they finished their last song.

"SEE YOU LATER TORONTO!"

"WOOOOOOOO!"

Clare and Eli almost walked out, but Eli stopped her. "Wait for the encore," he said.

"But I'm tired," she said. "I was standing up for way too long."

"Fine," and they walked out.

"So are you coming again with me for their next tour?" Eli asked.

"Oh, why not."

XXXXXXXXXX

**(1)- Gesundheit is the German and Yiddish word for health- I say that, I don't say "Bless You." I thought since Eli says things like, "L'chaim," he would say that.**

**1.856 words. Enough for you? **

**Guess what! I'm going to a concert tonight! I'm not telling you what band because someone might look up where they're playing tonight and look for me at the concert and kidnap me and kill me. (I watch too much Criminal Minds.) Here's a hint: it's a ska band.**

**Did you like the chapter? :P**

**REVIEW PLEASE! If you give an interesting review I will private message you and start a conversation with you! Then we can be penpals =D**

**And thanks to all you guys, I got more THAN 1OO REVEIWS! I feel like a movie star!**

**~HAPPY ALMOST FEBRUARY~**


	12. AUTHOR'S NOTE!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

I hate these, because you probably got all exited and then you saw the title of the chapter and you were like, "Aw man!" because this isn't a chapter. I'm sorry, I just need you guys' help.

So you know how in every chapter I put some of the rehearsal of the play, and some of something else? Well, I have no idea what "drama" or event to put in this chapter.

This is where you come in. I need ideas for what other event to put in this chapter. Whether it's drama, or it's Eli and Clare or Eli, Clare, and Adam going someplace interesting or fun, I need ideas.

Please help me! I will dedicate the next chapter to YOU if YOU come up with a really good idea!

REVIEW&GIVE ME IDEAS PLEASE


	13. Eyeliner and Emo Hair

**Hello my awesome(and beautiful) fans and readers! Thank you all for all your great ideas for what this chapter should be about. Since there were so many good ideas, I realized I wanted to use a lot of them, so I'm going to use them in different chapters. This chapter is dedicated to miss conceived, xxchannylovexx, and melovesdgrassi. I chose their ideas for this chapter! YOU SHOULD ALL VISIT THEIR PAGES TO SEE HOW COOL THEY ARE. And thanks to all you guys, I have over 120 reviews! WOO HOO!**

**Guys: when you review, answer this. I'm concerned that Eli and Clare are too Mary and Gary Sue-ish in my story. Are they?**

**&Guys: keep in mind- Eli and Clare have never had a bf/gf before. Clare never dated Kc(only kissed him) and Eli never dated Julia(only kissed her). **

**Disclaimer: Me not own Degrassi, but me own bad grammar!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

***Sunday, November 20th — The Dot***

Clare and Eli were sitting at the Dot. Just a normal day, you know? They were sitting at their usual spot by the window. There were two cups of coffee sitting still on the table, occasionally moved by their owner's hands, and brought up to his or her face to be drank. It was a normal day- very cold, but sunny nonetheless.

Eli noticed a girl in the corner. She looked about his age, probably a junior. She was sitting by herself. She had straight black layered hair with thick bangs. He couldn't tell what color her eyes were, but they were surrounded by a thick black coat of eyeliner.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Clare said, making Eli snap out of his trance.

"M'kay."

That girl, as much as she looked like a girl version of him, did not really attract Eli. She was very pretty, but Eli kind of had his eyes set somewhere else.

Eli was grimacing- his default expression- into his coffee when he sensed someone sitting across from him. He looked up to find Clare, but instead saw a much darker-dressed female.

That girl was sitting across from him. Why? He had no idea.

"Uh...hey?"

"Hi," she said. She seemed to have that 'grimace' thing going on, too. She avoided eye contact.

"Why are you sitting here?"

"I just wanted to introduce myself," she said, lifting her head. Eli saw her eyes and his widened.

He didn't get lost in them like he did when he first saw Clare's eyes. No, it wasn't like that all. He was just astonished at the girls eyes. Her left one was bright blue; but colder than Clare's. And her right one...well, her right one was hazel, with specks of green and yellow in it. Eli blinked a few times.

"Yes, they're real," the girl said, rolling the orbs of color above her nose.

"That was a little arrogant," Eli said.

"Well, that's me." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Ashley."

"You don't look like an Ashley."

"That's why I like being called 'Ash.'"

"Suits you," Eli said under his breath. He still refused to smile.

He focused on her clothes. She was very skinny and was wearing black jeans an eight-year-old would have trouble getting into. She was wearing a long sleeved black t-shirt and a jacket that was -you guessed it- black.

Now that he thought about it, she did look like an Ash.

"Why are you sitting here again?"

"I just transferred to Degrassi a week ago and I've seen you around. I thought we could be friends."

"Why me?"

"You dress sort of like me and I thought we would have stuff in common."

"You know, not everyone who dresses in black has problems in their life."

The girl stared at Eli for a few seconds and Eli instantly regretted saying that.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay, she said, still staring at him. Her voice cracked a little bit.

"So, um, I'm kind of with someone right now," Eli said.

"I noticed. She your girlfriend?" 

"No," Eli said. He looked down. "Not yet at least."

"Why not?"

"I'm not discussing this with a stranger."

At that point, Clare came out of the bathroom. She stopped for a moment as she looked at her table. Who was that girl sitting at their table, and why was she talking to Eli? Clare walked towards them.

"Hey..." she said.

Eli looked up at Clare and glanced at the girl. She was sitting there with her hands folded.

"Um, Ashley?" Eli said. Clare was confused by how Eli knew her name. "That's Clare's seat."

"Oh!" The girl said. She fumbled around and got out of her seat, making a show out of it.

"Sorry," she said., flashing a smile that seemed genuine...enough.

She got up and immediately exited the Dot, smiling at Eli as she passed the window.

Clare sat down and folded her arms. She cleared her throat. "So, um, who was that?" She unintentionally glared at Eli.

"I don't know, _Mom," _Eli said, smirking.

"Seriously! You know her?"

"I know her now." Eli was looking at his lap. Clare heard a sort of paper-folding noise.

Eli laughed. "She gave me her number."

Clare felt something rise up from the pit of her stomach and it showed on her face. She was blushing, and could tell. "So... who is she?" Clare picked up her coffee and looked into it, anger still clear on her face.

"C'mon, Clare, don't go green on me."

She looked up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. "It means you're envious of someone I just met."

Clare blushed, but not for anger this time. "I do not get jealous, Eli. Shut up."

Eli put his hands up in surrender and laid back in his seat, a smug smirk on his face.

***The Next Day At School***

"And then the ghost, who is actually his father, comes up to Hamlet, and tells him that his brother killed him!"

Eli turned around in his seat, looking at Clare. "I'm sick of all this Shakespeare," he said. "Don't we read enough of him?"

"Oh, you poor baby," Clare cooed. "Would you rather read fairy tales, where every dream inside your twisted morbid little head comes true?"

"Mhm," Eli said, and turned around. He lost his train of thought after Clare said her first sentence. He actually really, _really _wanted her to call him "baby" again in the future. That really distracted him.

"Eli?"

Mrs. Dawes had a habit of calling people's names who looked like they weren't paying attention. Like Eli, who was daydreaming about all the situations in which Clare could call him "baby."

"Mr. Goldsworthy..."

Eli's head popped up. "Yes?"

"What's the answer?"

"Um...y=mx+b?"

The class laughed and Eli noticed someone familiar sitting a few rows to the left. It was Ashley. He didn't know she was in this class...although, he had a bad habit of not paying attention sometimes. To his surroundings...and to his lessons.

"Maybe you'll think this is funny in detention," Mrs. Dawes said. The class stopped laughing and instead shared smiles with their friends. Ashley wasn't paying attention. She was coloring her nails with a black sharpie. Eli realized that she was a lot like him- he happened to color his fingernails regularly.

Eli sighed as Mrs. Dawes handed him the detention slip. He slumped in his seat and turned around for a second to roll his eyes at Clare.

After class, Eli got up and walked out with Clare, who couldn't walk with him because her locker was the other way. Ashley saw this and ran up to Eli.

"Hey, Eli."

"Hey Ashley," Eli said, looking forward.

"I told you to call me Ash."

"I don't feel comfortable doing that," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know you well enough to get to call you by a nickname."

"Well then maybe you should get to know me," Ashley grinned. Eli rolled his eyes as he reached his locker. He put in his combination as Ashley leaned against the locker next to his.

"Seriously, what do you want from me?" He put a book in his locker.

"I just thought we could be friends," she frowned. "I mean, I noticed you're not very sociable and I'm quite an outcast myself."

Eli took a book out and slammed his locker shut. He walked away and expected her to follow him; she did.

"The only reason I'm a bit antisocial is because most of the people in this school are very annoying. I don't know why you're an outcast, but you sure don't have to be. It's a choice."

"And I choose to not be friends with the annoying people in this school," Ashley said. She put an arm on Eli's shoulder, causing him to stop. "Please, Eli. Can't you just give me a chance? I know we can be good friends."

He sighed. "Sure, Ash. Stop by my table at lunch today. I'll be sitting with Clare and my friend Adam."

She grinned. "Thanks!"

Eli didn't know why, but he already felt some sort of connection to her. Nothing that felt romantic, like his butterflies around Clare, but something that felt brotherly-sisterly. He felt that he should become friends with her. Eli shrugged it off and walked to his next class.

XXXXXXXXXX

Clare sat in history.. She was writing notes furiously- and she wasn't even mad. It may have had something to do with that C- she got on her last science test. That was probably why she was taking so many notes.

The teacher turned off the overhead projector because the bell was going to ring any second. Clare leaned back in her chair and sighed, tuning out to what the teacher was saying.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. It was Kc. He was leaning forward on his desk.

"Can I use some of your notes? I kind of fell asleep..."

"Sure Kc," Clare said, yawning. She still felt awkward about last year, when Kc kissed her and she rejected him. She thought because of that incident he would ignore her existence forever, even after he got that new girlfriend, but maybe not.

The bell rang and Clare stood up with her books. As she walked out she saw someone running up beside her.

"Wait- Clare!" Kc said. He was next to her now.

"Yes?" She was slightly confused because, well, Kc never talked to her.

"What's up?"

"Uh, nothing?"

This answer didn't seem to satisfy Kc and he looked down with a pensive look on his face.

"So...how's the play going?"

"Pretty good," Clare said. "It's a bit nerve-wracking, but fun."

"That's good," Kc said. He looked genuinely interested when Clare was speaking, and when she wasn't, he looked like he was thinking of something to say. It's hard to go into casual conversation with someone you haven't spoken with in almost a year.

So, they were walking side by side (quite awkwardly) and Clare refused to look at Kc. She used to think his tallness was cute, but now she found him a little too tall. She liked Eli's height- it was taller than her, but not by too much-

"So, Clare, uh...that guy you hang out with- is he your...boyfriend?"

"No," Clare answered a little too quickly. "We're just friends." Although in her head, with all of her imaginations, they weren't just friends. They were frolicking through meadows hand in hand.

Okay, maybe Clare didn't have _those _fantasies. It would be strange to see Eli frolicking through a meadow. Clare actually shuddered at the thought.

"You cold?" Kc must have noticed. "Want my jacket?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Listen, Clare."

"Yes?"

"I want us to be friends again."

"I guessed that."

"This seems a little awkward-"

Understatement.

"-So I thought we could catch up at the Dot after school. After your rehearsal, I mean."

"Sure, Kc. Why not. Except tomorrow would be better- I don't have rehearsal."

Kc smiled- that warm smile that Clare used to blush at.

It was true that Clare actually did have a crush on Kc in ninth grade. She rejected him because she thought she was too young to have a boyfriend. Now, although, it just felt right with Eli, and she was already hoping he would ask her to be his girlfriend- or something like that.

Kc walked away just as (no surprise here) Eli walked up. Clare didn't notice him, so she had no idea where he came from.

"So, Clare...who was that?"

She looked at him. He was looking at her, with his eyebrows raised. Clare laughed inside. She raised _her _eyebrows.

She looked ahead again and shook her head.

"I have to go to class, Eli."

"But- wait!" Eli stopped as Clare rolled her eyes for a second before rounding a corner.

He threw his head back in the middle of a crowded hallway and groaned.

***Later, at Lunch***

Eli watched as that kid that was talking to Clare before tried to act like he was cool from another lunch table. Eli was glaring actually- and he ripped a piece of his bread viciously.

"Dude- why are you murdering your sandwich?"

Eli looked at Adam and the grimace left his face. He hadn't noticed Adam sitting there.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"I wasn't really offended," Adam said, confused.

"Yeah." Eli bit off the crunchy end of a french fry and went back to grimacing at the kid's table.

Clare walked in to the lunchroom and Eli watched as the kid stood up to wave hi to her. She smiled awkwardly at him and kept walking. Eli kept watching the kid as Clare walked over to the table.

"Stalker much?"

Clare's voice brought him back to life. She must have noticed him looking over at the guy.

"Uh...Hi Clare!

"Hey," She said. She was raising one eyebrow. "Why were you looking at that table?"

"Uhh...I was wondering why you didn't tell me his name," Eli said. It was sort of true.

"I was actually wondering why you were glaring over there as if you wanted to murder the kids at that table."

Eli's eyes darted around, as if he was searching for an answer. He smirked and looked straight at her.

"First questions first. I asked you who he was."

Clare sat down. "Kc Guthrie."

A bell in Eli's head rung as he remembered the name Kc. He had no classes with him-Kc was a sophomore- but Eli vaguely remembered Clare telling him that her first kiss was with someone named Kc. Something flashed in Eli's eyes for a second- but it went away quickly.

Now what rung in Eli's head was the realization that he would have to answer Clare's question.

"So?" Clare said.

"I was glaring over there because...he beat me in gym." Eli glanced at Adam, who rolled his eyes.

"Sure," she answered sarcastically. She took her apple and bit into it.

Eli opened his mouth to say something, but as interrupted by a lunch tray being hit onto the table. The three friends looked at the end of it and saw her.

Ashley.

Eli was so caught up in another guy talking to Clare-yet he denied being jealous-that he forgot completely about asking Ashley to sit with them at lunch. He didn't have time to warn Clare and Adam.

"Hello," she said.

Clare looked at Eli as if saying, 'What the heck? Who is that girl and why does she keep showing up everywhere?'

"Oh. Clare, Adam, this is Ashley. Ashley, this is Clare and Adam."

"i prefer to be called Ash," she said, smiling. She plopped down onto a seat next to Eli and across from Adam.

"So, what're we talking about?" She bit into her pizza.

Adam looked at Eli. He made a face. Eli made a face back.

Adam cleared his throat. "We were just saying that Eli is jealous of Kc."

Eli kicked Adam under the table as Clare blushed and Ashley looked up, almost dropping her pizza.

"Huh? Why?"

Adam smiled. He opened his mouth, but Eli kicked him again.

"Ow!"

"You guys are weird."

Clare had the urge to say something- and she almost did- but she didn't. She didn't think that whoever that was- Ashley, Ash, whatever- had the right to tell people that they're weird. This girl was in all black! That's a little weird.

***Rehearsal***

"So, who is she?"

Eli looked at her and smirked. "Ashley Klepper." Clare's silent answer made Eli sure that she wasn't satisfied with the answer.

They were walking into the auditorium together. "I met her in the Dot, she told me she saw me around and wanted to be friends with me, she's in our English class by the way- this morning I told her she could sit with us at lunch."

"She created way too many awkward silences."

"Why can't you give her a chance?"

"She seems..."

"Emo?" Eli suggested. "Moody? Depressed?"

"I was going to say different," Clare giggled. They walked onto the stage and threw their backpacks in the audience.

"Okay guys," Declan said. "I have a surprise for you!" His assistant gave him a box.

"Costumes!" He yelled. The cast applauded and there were some "Woo!"'s.

All but Eli, who went "Ugh. I knew this day would have to come."

"What's so bad about costumes?"

'Clare, you know what I'm going to have to wear for that? It's going to be crazy!"

"Yeah, you will look kind of weird." Eli shook his head in his hands.

"Okay, let's get started."

***Tuesday***

Clare woke up to the sound of her alarm. She groaned and turned it off, her thoughts surrounding people like Kc, Ashley, and...Eli.

She slipped on her clothes and rushed off to get her mom to drive her to school.

XXXXXXXXXX

In English, Clare noticed Ashley. All the staring eventually led Ashley to look back, but all she did was smile a tiny bit. She actually did seem like she wanted to be friends with them not just steal Eli away from Clare.

But was called stealing if she wasn't dating Eli? At least...not yet.

XXXXXXXXXX

Throughout the day, Clare had some run-ins with Ashley. She seemed like a genuinely nice person. She told Clare that "we should hang out sometime" and she talked to Eli a lot. She also spoke with Adam for a little while; they discussed manga.

And now it was time for this: meeting up with Kc. What was this, anyway? Some sort of friendship meeting? Whatever it was, it was weird.

The bells rang as Clare walked into the Dot. It was an ugly day- the sky was gray and filled with clouds, and the rain was starting to fall.

Kc stood up at a table and waved her over. She smiled a bit and went to where he was sitting.

"Hi Clare."

"Hey Kc." she sat down.

"So what's up?"

"Oh nothing,' she answered. "...The sky..." she said quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Clare looked around as another awkward silence filled the air. It seemed as if that was all that was going to fill the air.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**3,347 words. Long chapter! Lots of dialogue in this one. It's like there was so much added, but it was boring. What do you think? FOR PEOPLE I TOLD THAT I WILL USE YOUR IDEAS: your ideas will be postponed because I have to add another chapter before that. I felt like this chapter was long enough and I needed to update already, so there will be another chapter that includes the rest of this week. **

**Who else thinks it's creepy that Eli and Clare are working on a play on Degrassi? I do!**

**There's a pic of Ashley on my profile- the link is at the bottom of the _first section._**

**I met Diana Agron**

**Review Please! Ducks (sorry I'm tired)**


	14. ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE! yes I know I suck

**Hey guys...Sorry I haven't updated in a really long time. I know, I know. I'm mean. And here's the funny part: I don't even have much of a social life outside school, so I probably had time to finish my chapter! Truth is, I am a huge procrastinator. I procrastinate with schoolwork and projects, which means less time for fanfiction. Also, I've been writing a tiny bit of other fanfiction. So, I'll try to get the new chapter up soon!**

**I hope you don't hate me.**


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